Dabi hadn't always despised his father. There was a time when he tolerated him, looked up to him, admired him.
He remembers snippets from the early days. Before his siblings were born, before his quirk had manifested. Blurred memories of him sitting on the couch with his knees digging into the cushions, despite his mother's disapproval. His chin resting on the backrest and his turquoise eyes glued to the picture window overlooking the front yard, scanning the road and waiting for that ugly beige car to roll into the driveway.
And oh, how ugly it was. Even as a toddler, Dabi could recognize his father's horrible taste in automobiles.
"Daddy, why did you get such an ugly car?"
A three year old Touya stood on the pavement as he watched Enji scrub the dirt off his car. It almost blended into the beige paint itself and Touya wondered if it even needed cleaning. Why put in the effort to clean it off if it wasn't noticeable?
"It is rather ugly, isn't it?"
Enji dropped the washcloth back into the bucket of soap and turned around to face Touya, his face morphing into a grin which he couldn't identify, his mind debating between playful and antagonizing.
The latter seemed more accurate, but just who was his father trying to provoke?
Him?
"Why don't you get something cool?"
"Like what?"
Touya thought for a minute before his eyes lit up as an idea popped into his head. "A red car, like your flames! And it can be a convertible!"
They never got to finish the conversation. Touya's mother soon came outside, beckoning him to come back inside the house. Normally, he'd put up a struggle and beg to stay. Rei was always pulling him away from his father and Touya could never understand why.
This time, though, he obeyed without a fight. Rei was pregnant with his little sibling and he remembered her explaining to him how stressing her out wouldn't be good for the baby.
He decided his new brother or sister mattered more than solving the mystery behind his father's interest in ugly cars.
So many memories flood Dabi's mind, each one containing his father. He hadn't realized just how many times they had interacted and he can't help but wonder which times had been Body Snatcher and which times had been Enji.
He had tried to keep up his denial, to cover his ears as the evidence poured in. He had ran out the door the second he heard his father's name. Twice had shouted at him, asked where he was going. Dabi didn't answer.
He didn't know.
He's running now, boots splashing through puddles of mixed water and mud. A guy yells as Dabi bumps into him in his haste. He doesn't apologize, just keeps going. A car honks and swerves as Dabi runs across an intersection as if his eyes are closed.
They may as well be, since he can't see anything with all the water dripping down his face. He doesn't bother wiping it away though. It's not like anyone can differentiate between his tears and the rain water.
Maybe he can outrun this, this nightmare disguised as a dream.
Or maybe it's a dream disguised as a nightmare.
Dabi can't tell.
"Dabi!"
Dabi stops when he hears his name. His left boot stomps into a large puddle in the process but he doesn't even notice. What he does notice though is the idiot shouting his alias, and not to mention the alias of one of the most wanted villains in Japan, out in public!
"Dabi! Hey, wait up!"
Dabi glances around him, makes sure no one is paying attention. The only person in the vicinity is walking across the street talking on his phone. Low chance he heard anything.
Satisfied, though still paranoid, Dabi turns around to see Twice running towards him.
"Shut up, you moron! We're in public!"
Dabi stands still as Twice catches up to him. The overcoat he dons and the umbrella he holds hides his face, but Dabi recognizes him. It's a skill one picks up after operating in the shadows for so long.
"Geez, you run fast!" Twice says in between breaths. He raises the umbrella to cover the two of them. "Here, you're soaking. You're gonna get sick."
Dabi steps out from under the umbrella and moves towards a park bench sitting nearby. It's wet with puddles forming on its surface, but he sits anyway. Tolerating discomfort is another skill one obtains from living the villain life.
"Or you can just continue getting soaked." Twice folds up the umbrella and moves to sit beside Dabi. "Sure, let's sit in the rain."
Dabi doesn't look over as Twice sits down on the wet seat next to him. Instead, he keeps his eyes on his muddy, worn out boots, another sign of the path he's chosen.
They sit in silence for a few minutes. Dabi has no plans to initiate the inevitable conversation, but he knows Twice will soon enough.
"You just ran out of there."
An accusation, not a question. Twice doesn't want to ask it outright, but Dabi knows he's curious. Why else would he chase after him in this weather?
"Yeah, what of it?"
It's cruel, he knows.
Dabi also knows that curiosity isn't what pulled Twice out here. Twice cares, and it contradicts everything Dabi has taught himself to believe.
But aren't his beliefs now false? The way he had painted the world, he had used the wrong colors. He had been colorblind for all these years.
He feels cheated.
"You didn't get to hear the plan. Well, it's not really a detailed plan since we don't know exactly what we're doing just yet, but-"
"I get it." Dabi cuts him off, eyes still staring at his boots. "Shigaraki knows we're broke, right? We can't afford the kid."
You can't afford my brother.
Dabi sometimes wishes he had access to his father's bank accounts like he used to, so the League could have better resources, give them more of a fighting chance.
Right now, though, he's content with his empty pockets.
"He knows. I think we all do." Twice sighs and Dabi can hear him lean back on the bench. "But he's stubborn and feels like he's entitled to him because he's 'Sensei's successor' and all that."
No one's entitled to Shouto.
"So what's his plan?"
Dabi prays there isn't a plan, he needs to protect his brother from the BtB. Send the League of Villains after him too and Dabi will have to fight a two front war.
"He's debating between kidnapping the kid and storming the BtB."
Dabi suppresses the urge to snort. He doubts either will work. They have no means of getting Shouto to comply and the BtB has almost twice the amount of members, all with strong quirks. They have no fighting chance and for that, Dabi is grateful.
"So what do you think of all this, Twice?"
"What do you mean?"
Dabi finally looks up at him. He looks him right in the eye, doesn't bother to conceal the anger he's feeling.
"This whole scheme All For One devised. Possessing a man so he can turn his innocent child into a tool. Our battle is with the heroes and what they stand for. Interfering with some innocent kid's life kind of ruins our reputation if you ask me."
Dabi keeps his eyes on Twice, his aura screaming of confidence. He finds it funny though because while he's all cool and composed on the outside, there is so much confusion and turmoil going on inside.
He wonders if Twice will be able to see through his wall.
A part of him wants him to.
"It wouldn't be my first choice..." Twice trails off at the end and Dabi knows there's a 'but' coming. "but people like us sometimes have to take whatever chances we get. It may not be ideal, but villains don't have many options. I feel bad for the kid and his family, it's kind of messed up, but we got to make sacrifices to get what we want. You know what I mean?"
Dabi knows exactly what Twice means. He had sacrificed himself for his mother and siblings, though he questions now whether it had been in vain.
But why does it have to be his family? Why do their lives have to be the sacrifice? He knows he being selfish but he has every right to. He doesn't remember signing up for this. He knows his siblings sure hadn't, nor had his mother. And now he knows even his father had never given the green light.
Screw this. He's saving Enji and he's fixing his family. Dabi had never been a follower, and he is not going to allow some villain organization to use his family as a bunch of lowly pawns.
Dabi's got the upper hand here.
He can use the League of Villains to take down the BtB.
He can give his father his body back.
He can protect Shouto.
He can fix his broken family, just like he had always wanted.
"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean."
Twice grins and knows he's giving him the wrong idea. Twice is one of the good guys, or as good as a villain can get, and he's one of the few people outside his family that Dabi genuinely cares about.
He has to remind himself that Twice is on a mission too. He had been hurt by hero society and he's just doing whatever he can to achieve his goals.
Just because Dabi's claim to hero corruption had been proved false doesn't mean the hero world is still perfect. It's flawes, Dabi knows, and he'd be a coward and a denier if he just walks away from it once he gets his family back.
He can't abandon their cause. Hell, he had sacrificed his life to go down this villainous path and he couldn't just give it up. He's a villain now, returning to civilian life isn't so simple. He's still got two battles to fight.
"I'm gonna go back to HQ." Twice says, standing up and opening his umbrella. "Are you coming?"
And he's going to win won of them very soon.
"Yeah, I'm coming."
He can feel his flames itching to ignite. He wants to burn this possessing bitch to ashes.
Dabi wonders now whether the beige car had been his father's idea or Body Snatcher's. He really hopes it was the latter.
###
Shouto's phone buzzes as he's about to open the door to his mother's hospital room. Midoriya's texting him, asking him if he's excited to move into the dorms later that afternoon. Shouto leaves him on read as he walks into the room.
He'll respond later.
"Hi, Mom." Shouto greets his mother as he closes the hospital room door behind him. "How are you doing?"
Rei smiles at him as he sits down across from her. "I'm doing well, sweetheart. How's your summer break been? You go back to school tomorrow, right?"
"It's been alright." Shouto doesn't have to lie to her. She knows his home life isn't rainbows and sunshine. "I go back to school tomorrow. It's actually what I want to talk to you about."
"Ah, yes. Fuyumi mentioned something about that yesterday."
"She told you already?"
No! Shouto wanted to be the one to break the good news. Fuyumi promised she wouldn't say anything!
Rei laughs. "No, no! She didn't give any details, Shouto. She wanted to but she told me how excited you were to tell me yourself, so she didn't say anything."
"Oh, okay." He knows he shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. Fuyumi is a chatterbox and does struggle with keeping secrets, but she also knows just how much of a turning point this is for him. "UA set up a dorming system, so now I'll be living at school instead of at home."
Shouto watches his mother's face for a reaction, but he's having trouble reading it. He can't tell whether she's happy or doubtful. Maybe she's both?
"Dorming?" She then gives him a look that Shouto can only identify as pity. "Shouto, honey, you know I'm not your legal guardian anymore, right?"
Ah, so that's what she's worried about.
"I know, Mom." He reassures her. "He already gave his permission."
Rei's expression changes to shock. "He did? But how-"
"Don't worry, Mom." Shouto says, though his mind flicks back to that impromptu training session a few nights back. "Everything's fine."
He feels guilty about that lie because he knows he doesn't have to do that around his mother. He thinks maybe he should take it back, but his mother's face brightens and he holds back.
"Alright, if you say so." The smile is back on her face now, a genuine one. Shouto hadn't realized how much he missed those until he had started visiting her. "You're gonna be living with your friends then? That will be an exciting change."
Shouto's own smile falters a bit. "I guess."
"You seem nervous."
He is nervous, though he thinks terrified is more of an accurate description. He's terrified to leave home, terrified to leave the place that terrifies him.
"Why am I scared to leave?"
It's a vague question, but his mother understands what he's implying. She also understands what he's feeling, and for that Shouto is grateful, because he most certainly does not.
"It's okay to be scared, Shouto." She says in that familiar tone of hers, so soft in contrast to his father's. "This is a new thing for you, it's not something you're used to. It's normal to fear the unknown."
He still doesn't understand. He's going to a better place, so why is he so hesitant?
He doesn't voice his fear aloud, but Rei sees it in his face anyway.
"Shouto, trust me." She says, her tone turning firm. "It will be scary for the first few days, maybe even weeks. But I promise you, everything's gonna be alright. For the first time, you're gonna have to make your own decisions and think for yourself and that can be a terrifying thought when you've lived such a sheltered life up until now."
"You think so?"
He wants to trust her, he really does.
"I know so."
Shouto nods. He figures what his mother is saying makes some sense. He hopes she's right and that everything turns out okay. He wants things to be okay.
It's been a long time since he even had hope that everything would be okay.
That must mean progress.
"Mom?"
"Hm?"
The memory of his father's mood change from a few days ago is playing on a loop in his head. It has been ever since it happened. Shouto wants to ask Rei about it, see if she has any answers for him.
Fuyumi always dodges the subject. When Shouto had brought it up a few days ago, it had been the first time he had mentioned the topic in years. He had expected his sister to be open about it with him that time considering he was fifteen now and perfectly capable of understanding, but she had closed the conversation before it even started.
He loves his sister, but he wishes she would stop seeing him as a child.
Should he ask his mother? Talking directly about his father might not be good for her health, or that's what Fuyumi had told him. Perhaps she's just trying to protect him, like she always is.
"Shouto? Did you want to ask me something?"
He had spaced out again. He can't do that around his mother, he'll worry her. Maybe Fuyumi is right. Bringing up his father won't do her any good.
"Uh, no. I just wanted to say thanks for that. I think I'm feeling less nervous now."
Her smile is back, maybe a sign that he had made the right decision. "Good, I'm glad. And remember, you can always talk to me about anything."
Right, anything. "Yeah, I know."
They talk for another half hour until Shouto says he needs to leave. He tells his mother he still has some packing to do. It's not a complete lie, but Shouto can stay a bit longer.
He chooses not to, though. Somewhere in their conversation, Rei had gotten distracted. She does that sometimes, drifts off in her mind. Shouto doesn't know what she's thinking about but he figures it's not unpleasant because she always looks so content when she does.
He doesn't worry about it. Instead, he takes it as his cue to leave. Shouto hugs his mother goodbye, promises to tell her all about the dorms at his next visit.
On his way, he texts Midoriya back.
Todoroki: Yes, I'm very excited.
###
Rei smiled as she watched the family a few tables down. There was a young couple with three children. Rei knew it was wrong to stare but they looked so happy. And besides, Enji had left to use the restroom and she had nothing better to do.
Rei fiddled with the engagement ring on her finger as she watched. It was a beautiful ring, the most beautiful piece of jewelry she had ever owned.
It was also the most expensive.
By far.
The wedding was only a couple of months away. Rei couldn't stop thinking about it and she knew Enji couldn't either with how much they both talked about it. Aside from the wedding, though, she didn't really think about what would come next.
She tried, but she didn't want to get her hopes up.
Rei knew Enji was a busy man and he'd only get busier as he moved up the ranks. Being a hero was a tough job and getting some time alone with him now was hard enough as it is. She had thought about having children, about being a family like the one she was watching now.
But she knew that might not be possible.
"What are you thinking about so intently?"
Rei jumped as Enji's voice broke through her thoughts. She hadn't noticed him coming back.
"It's nothing, really."
"That's what you say when it is something."
They stared at each other for a good few seconds before Rei laughed. He knew her too well.
"Alright, I was thinking about something."
"Well, that part is obvious."
She blurted it out before she could hesitate. "Will we be able to raise a family?"
She looked at Enji, searching his face for a reaction. She doesn't know why she's so afraid, he never said he was against it. They just never talked about it.
"Of course we will." He said with a confident smile. "I've always wanted children. Didn't I tell you that?"
Rei shook her head. She would remember that.
Enji turned around to glance at the family a few tables down. "I've never had that. My mother died when I was young and my father wasn't around much. I didn't have any siblings either. It was a lonely childhood and I was always envious of families like that."
He gestures to the family they were both looking at. "I want that, Rei, and I don't care if I have to make my hero career secondary to get that. That is, if you want that too"
Rei knew he wasn't kidding when he said that. "I do, Enji. I do want that."
They spent the rest of their evening talking about their wedding, their future family, and everything that came with it. They both wanted children, and Enji made it clear that he wanted more than one. He didn't want them to have the lonely childhood that he had.
"I can see it now, Rei. You, me, our four perfect children, driving down the road in our red convertible-"
Rei giggled. "A convertible is not a typical family car, Enji."
"Well, we won't be a typical family so we can have a convertible."
"We'll talk about the car."
This chapter is very overdue and for that, I apologize. Being a music student is just really time consuming. I'm taking piano, guitar and music theory all at the same and it's very stressful. But I love it!
I'm not really gonna comment much this chapter because I'm sick and miserable right now. But I really wanted to get this chapter out already so I'm sorry if the writing is a bit lacking.
One thing I do want to say though is that this fic contains a lot of flashbacks. I'll slowly be giving you bits and pieces of the past.
Reviews are appreciated because I like hearing what you guys think. They also make me happy so leave a review to make me less miserable :D
Oh! And this fic now has a tumblr! Check it out for updates and stuff, it's called outofcharacter-bnha.
Thanks for reading!
-britishsconesahoy
