Hey!

What?

Are you free this afternoon?

Why?

It's important. So, are you?

… Okay, yeah, I am, why?

Meet me at 3pm. I'll message you the address.

Put on something you don't really like and bring a change of clothes, just in case.

In case what?

You'll see.

Shouto? In case what?

A week after confessing being Shouto's brother, Dabi was laying on the couch of the living room of the PLF base, staring at his phone and wondering what was going through his brother's head. His texts were ominous to say the least. Why did he want him to meet him in that deserted area? And such a weird sentence as well. "Put on something you don't really like and bring a change of clothes, just in case." It felt like they were going to commit a crime. Not that he minded but Shouto? He didn't want him to go down such a dark path. Or maybe he was wrong? Surely his brother couldn't mean that. His twisted mind was probably at fault there. He looked down at Twice braiding Toga's hair on the floor while she watched a cartoon on the TV.

"Eh, what do you guys understand when someone asks you to meet them in a deserted area and to bring a change of clothes?"

Toga turned around to look at Twice, then after nodding, they both answered at the same time.

"They want you to help them bury a body."

"They want you to help them murder someone."

Good to know it wasn't just him then. Well, coming from them it wasn't so surprising but still.

Toga shrugged. "Honestly, potayto, potahto."

"You gonna do it? You're so nice dude! LET THEM ROT IN THEIR SHIT! IT'S NOT YOUR BUSINESS!" Twice yelled.

"Have fun!" Toga shouted, a wide manic grin on her face.

Dabi sighed. He was planning to laze around all day, not dig a hole to throw in the body of someone he didn't even know. However, he had planned to be a slightly better brother than before and he supposed that was included in the pack "not as bad a brother as you could have been". Family first, then. Not only Twice could be a Ride or Die bro after all.

Finally arrived in a place where no soul had set a foot in a while according to his surroundings, Dabi wasn't surprised to see Shouto dressed in the same fashion as him, after all, he had warned him.

However, what he was surprised to see was their siblings, Fuyumi and Natsuo, standing with their arms crossed just next to Shouto and staring at the ghost of their supposedly dead brother. Which, yeah, he could have expected after finding out Shouto had told them he was alive. Surpriiiise… Not sure they liked it though.

Too late to go back to his beloved couch now. Great. But at least, now the possibility of burying someone was less than certain. Unless it was Endeavor? No, unfortunately no luck of such things with Fuyumi being so calm. Too bad.

He approached them, trying to appear confident when he was shaking with apprehension inside. He stood by his principles and the decisions he had taken over the years and regretted nothing but it didn't prevent him from feeling insecure as he was looked upon by his siblings. Standing face to face with them, they awkwardly stared at each other, neither of them knowing what to say after so many years of grief and pain to find that their dead brother was a villain who had killed countless people. That was until Fuyumi looked down at his left hand, surprise painted all over her face.

"Why do you have a shovel?"

He glanced down at the tool he had taken with him, thinking it was a good idea at the time. Now? Not so much really. He could see they weren't here for any criminally inclined activity.

"For…" Come on Touya, find something quick! "fun?" Something clever dummy. "I mean, nothing. I just had to give it back to a friend. Because I borrowed it. For gardening. So…. I wanted to go to my friend's. On my way back you see." He was going to stop now or he was going to dig himself a deeper hole. Figuratively.

"You garden?" Natsuo lifted an eyebrow, unconvinced. "When we were little, no plants could survive you."

"Us you mean." Touya scoffed, offended. "Because we watered them too often, that's all and don't act like you had no part in it."

Natsuo snickered. "I don't know what you mean, I was clearly too small to carry the watering can."

Touya squinted at his brother before deciding against starting a fight over something so insignificant. He rolled his eyes and stuck the shovel in the ground in a firm move. "Nevermind." He turned to Shouto who had yet to speak. "Why are we here?"

He guessed maybe Yumi and Natsu wanted some explications or something like that. He wasn't particularly eager to repeat last week's speech but he would if he had to. They deserved the truth after all. However, if Shouto had had the good idea of telling them himself, he wouldn't mind.

"Yes, Shouto, you didn't tell us anything." Fuyumi pointed out.

Oh? Interesting. It seemed like Touya wasn't the only one kept in the dark.

Shouto fidgeted, shifting from a foot to another, uncomfortable at the idea of being at the centre of their attention. He went in front of the door of an abandoned factory. Nice. Touya was pretty sure Fuyumi wasn't used to this kind of place. And Natsuo? Well, who knew where students went to party these days? The both of them looked out of place dressed as they were, clad in black as well as outdated trousers and shoes, carrying bags with them.

"Hum, so a few weeks ago I was in the infirmary after a training (Touya opened his mouth to protest) at UA with two of my friends (he closed his mouth, reassured. As long as it wasn't because of you-know-who), and they suggested activities for us to bond as a family, but none of them worked for us because, well because we're different from other families but it's normal you know just like any other family are different from others in different ways you see which is totally normal and okay and-"

Natsuo glanced at his two other siblings, silently asking if they should stop him as it was becoming painfully awkward by each moment passed. Fuyumi saved the day when she volunteered as she nodded at them.

"Where are you going with this Shouto?" She softly asked.

"It's better to just show you." And with that, he went to open the gates of the warehouse. At the far wall was stuck a giant poster of Endeavor, covering the entirety of the wall. Yuck. Judging by the grimace of disgust Natsuo made, he wasn't the only one.

"Sooo… you called us here to admire this piece of trash? No offense but I had a better day planned ahead of me." Dabi drawled. His afternoon of cartoon with Toga and Twice vanished for this? Fuyumi frowned at him and elbowed him discreetly. Ow. He should have definitely stayed at home.

"No, I just thought about what united all of us, even though we never really spent a lot of time together in our childhood or even now. So, what I came up with is this." He gestured toward the near the right wall where there was a row of cans of paint with different brush put upon them. "Since we all kind of hate him," he glanced hesitantly at Fuyumi who shrugged. "I thought we could throw paint at his picture. I thought about it at that time, but I thought it best to wait to do it together. And… and I heard it can be very therapeutic. To externalise your emotions."

Touya snorted. Everything was clear now. No illegal burial, but even better. "Now, you're talking business." By the look of it, Natsuo and Fuyumi were on board too. Natsuo rolled up his sleeves. "So? Who goes first?"

They looked at each other hesitantly before Fuyumi stepped forward and grabbed a can. She took a deep breath. Her eyes hardened.

"Okay. That's for pushing us back when we were children!" And she chucked the content of the can over the poster, letting the paint drip all over the scowl of her hero of a father, before grabbing another can. Having warmed up, she threw the other one without a break. "And that's for throwing away all my Father's Day gifts! This one for slamming the door in my face when I needed you just because you were "busy"!"

That was all they needed to join her. It was as if a dam had been broken.

"That's for training me day and night asshole!"

"For never coming to any of my soccer games!"

"That one's for hurting mom!"

"That's for raising us apart, as if we were different!"

"That's for hitting me when I couldn't control myself!"

"That's for all the forgotten birthdays!"

"Take this dipshit!"

"I'll be a better hero than you'll ever be!"

It seemed to never cease and the stock of paint was slowly growing thinner. They continued for dozens of minutes more before falling down on the ground of the warehouse, completely exhausted.

"You were right," Natsuo said, a wide grin on his face.

"Uh?" Shouto shut his eyes, failing to catch his breath but still smiling.

"That was fun." Fuyumi agreed, chuckling.

Touya silently turned toward his siblings, each of them laughing uncontrollably, feeling his own lips stretch in what couldn't be mistaken as something other than a big, innocent and joyful smile. He couldn't help but wonder. Was it that easy to be happy? To let go of his grudges and enjoy the moment? He wished it was. Things would be so much simpler.

Touya and Fuyumi were waiting in front of the warehouse while Shouto and Natsuo were changing clothes. The both of them had gone first as Touya had had to redo his make up over his burns and stitches as well as make sure his wig was still perfectly in place. After the bliss of this afternoon, the reality hit him when he was left alone with his sister. The silence was more than uncomfortable. He took a deep breath and decided to start the conversation as he was the reason for their… situation.

"So… you like children? I mean, you have to since you're a teacher but… yeah."

Awkward seemed to be the new normal for this family apparently. Or Shouto was rubbing off on him. A most likely possibility. He hated it. He was great with people, thank you very much.

Fuyumi raised her eyebrows. "I suppose that compared to you, who attack teenagers on their camp holiday, I couldn't be more different. What was the point of it again? Traumatize children?"

Dabi shrugged. "Kidnap one of them. Nothing personal on my part. Which was particularly easy if you want my opinion. A shame for such a school."

"No, I don't want your-", Fuyumi gritted her teeth. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Shouto could have been hurt, you know."

"I do." Dabi sighed. "I fought briefly with him in fact. He wasn't hurt as far as I can recall. Could've done way more, you know. I didn't."

"Oh? And you want a medal perhaps?"

"I don't do what I do for a stupid medal or any fucking kind of gratitude." Her tone was starting to get on his nerves. Not good. He should go before he fucked up things even more. He really should. But he just noticed ice had slowly crept on the ground up to the base of his boots and he couldn't make a move. Great.

She looked down, biting on her lower lip. "Why then?"

The slow realisation that Dabi was stuck here with no possible escape was starting to get him nervous and he was involuntarily becoming more and more agitated. Like a caged lion. "Because I want to make a change in our society! Because I want to make him pay! I want everyone to know what he did! I won't back down. Never."

"And what about us?" She clenched her fists. The ice climbed higher, nearly reaching the top of his boots.

"What do you mean?"

"When were you going to come see us? Were we ever meant to know you were alive?"

Touya looked away, ashamed. "Not necessarily. Not like this at least."

"You mean, when it suited you, as part of your plan. Is that right?"

"Where are you going with this Yumi? It's not like I can change any of this now anyway." He ruffled his hair (well, the wig's hair).

She lifted her chin. "You know, when Shouto told us, I didn't want to believe him at first. The thought that was in my head wasn't even that you were a villain, that you killed people. It was…" Tears shone in her eyes and started to fall upon her cheeks. His eyes widened, shocked. "It was that you never came back home. You were alive and you never came back for us. Never told us you were alive!" Fuyumi's fist rained over her brother's chest while Touya didn't make any move to stop her. His face was grim, full of guilt, knowing he deserved it. "Why?! Why wouldn't you tell us you were alive…'' She crumbled in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably as he caught her, enveloping her in his embrace.

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry Yumi… I thought I shouldn't drag you down with me. It was too dangerous and… at that time, my mind wasn't in a great place. And I was a coward. I didn't want to go back where he was when I had finally escaped."

They stayed in each other's arms until she stepped back. Fuyumi furiously wiped her eyes with her sleeves. She was upset. She had tried to let it all bottled up inside her, but she couldn't help herself. She wasn't only mad at their father, but at him as well. At her, anyone, everyone. She felt like she had been so alone for so long, trying to keep all her family together and it was everyone's and nobody's fault at the same time. She hadn't broken down like that in a long time. She hadn't let herself that privilege, not when everyone else was counting on her. Now that her older brother was back in her life, she intended to let him bear a part of that burden.

"Never again, you hear me?" She threatened him, poking him in the chest.

"Weeeell…" He lifted his eyebrows. "I understand but-"

"Ne-ver, I said." She frowned.

"Not knowingly at least? In my line of work, you know…" Dabi tilted his head.

"I suppose that's the best I'm going to get." Fuyumi sighed and shook her head.

"You're not going to try to talk me out of continuing my… job? That's weird, I thought you would, you of all people."

"Is that another one of the reasons why you never came back to see me? You were afraid I'd try to reason with you?"

"Maybe?"

She swatted his arm, offended. "Idiot." She turned back to check her two other brothers weren't ready yet and lowered her voice. "Shouto warned us you weren't keen on giving up your diabolical plan, whatever it may be and to not focus on it, lest we fight over it. Which wasn't the point of today."

"Oh? What was it?"

"Seeing you were, well, you."

Touya snorted and held out his arm. "I'm very real, see? Want to see me without the wig? Not a clone, sister. One hundred per cent Todoroki Touya here."

Fuyumi rolled her eyes and turned towards the gate of the gateway. "For boys, they sure tend to take a lot of time. We don't have all day."

They all had paint on their face, hands and arms, without forgetting their clothes, which made Touya glad he hadn't forgotten to take new clothes and his makeup. Taking off the paint with the water still running in the plumbing of the warehouse had been a pain in the ass. Not something he would recommend, but he had seen worse. One star.

"In the meantime, could you unfreeze me, please?"

"Nope." She smirked, proud of herself. "Revenge is a dish best served cold dear brother."

Touya had to let the shovel there. He'd have to come back there to get it back to the mansion. The others had decided to get a snack, but hanging around in the city with a shovel wasn't very fashionable last he heard. Unless it was Halloween, in which case, it was understandable. Humans were weird like that.

They stopped at a café to pick up smoothies and pastries which they shared. They went shopping as Fuyumi needed school furniture since she had lost her marker pen and Natsuo wanted to buy new headphones. They talked about some TV series, the manga Shouto was reading, Fuyumi's job, Natsuo's girlfriend. Harmless subjects in a nutshell. It was what they needed. Some peace.

Until Natsuo spoke about the sore point.

"We should testify, Shouto."

Dabi who had been reading texts from Compress who was complaining about his lost hat on the group chat raised his head in an instant. "What do you mean? You haven't yet? It's been a week Shouto," he hissed. "Hasn't your teacher talked with you about how your testimony is important?"

Shouto nodded. "He has. However, as I told you last time, I still need father's help to master flashfire."

"But-"

"He's right Touya." Fuyumi said. "I don't think it's the right thing to do for now. His status as number one now more than ever is impor-" She closed her mouth, afraid of having said too much. They hadn't referred to his job so far and didn't intend to.

Dabi clenched his fists.

"No, he is right. None of us are impartial, but you know what is? The justice courts and the police." Natsuo assured. "We need to do it. Our future is at play now. He can't get away with all he's done."

"He's trying to atone for what he's done."

"Doesn't make it better, does it? Neither will it erase it. In any case, I will go. You can't change my mind." Natsuo took the pair of headphones he had set his eyes on and went to the cashier.

"You know he's right." Touya affirmed before following him.

Fuyumi locked eyes with Shouto before lowering her eyes on her screen. A picture of the Todoroki family, long before Touya's "death" and the drama. A seemingly happy family from the outside. She had desired for so long to get her family back together, but now it felt like a utopia.

Hawks, the number two hero, was currently dutifully patrolling in the city. A week after he had learned the Hand Crusher was Dabi's brother and nothing had happened. Nothing, strictly nada. The Hero Commission knew nothing about him. The man is a ghost. It was literally impossible to find him for now. Their struggles were something they constantly reminded him of. As if he was the one responsible. Okay, he should find more intel, but that was still an important clue, right? It was beginning to be more and more frustrating and stressing. As a result, he had been grooming his feathers more than usual and Dabi had even offered his help when he'd seen how anxious he was. The irony of the situation wasn't lost on him. Nevertheless, he accepted his help. You don't look a gift eagle in the beak after all and his boyfriend was really skilled when it comes to taking care of his wings. He was gentle with them which, well, wasn't always the case of his handlers at the Commission.

Shaking his head, he willed himself to concentrate on the task at hand and sent some feathers to stop a robbery below him. When will they ever learn?

The winged-hero was about to fly toward the other side of the city when a head of hair half-red, half-white on the street caught his attention. Without thinking, he flew down and shouted out to the person a few feet ahead of him.

"Todoroki?"

The teenager looked up; surprise painted on a usually blank face. How lucky! Nothing better to brighten his day than to stumble upon Endeavor's son! He landed gracefully next to him. From what he could tell, he was with his brother and sister, Natsuo and Fuyumi if he recalled. He saw someone next to Natsuo, but he didn't know him.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Hawks." The kid had gone back to his poker face.

"Oh, none of that with me kid!" He waved all this politeness away. "I'm not so old. I could practically be your brother." He ruffled his hair. His siblings looked at each other with something he couldn't fathom. Well, that's not why he was there. Hawks shrugged. "How is Endeavor? Kicking and alive, I presume?" He laughed.

"He's fine. Alive." The kid deadpanned. Weird answer, but well, he had heard the kid hadn't the best relation with his father so that may be the reason.

That's when he heard the person next to Natsuo mutter "Unfortunately, but not for long." Fuyumi nudged him for that comment and Natsuo snorted. Hawks hadn't been paid attention before, but now that he looked closer, he could clearly see that…

Damn he's hot! (Considering that family's quirks, pun intended.) These blue eyes, this white hair, the confident demeanour… However, there was a little something about him that reminded him of someone but he could not pinpoint it. Why was his brain failing him now?

"I'm sorry but haven't we seen each other before? Although I think I would remember seeing someone so breath-taking."

Natsuo and Fuyumi's eyes widened and they tried to prevent themselves from laughing, meanwhile Shouto was carefully watching the white-haired man from the corner of his eyes. For some reason, the man squinted before rolling his eyes. "We haven't met. I have no interest in heroes."

Urgh. Bad start. He held out his hand waiting for the other one to take it. "I'm Hawks, nice to meet you." The man stared at him for a while before grabbing his hand in a firm shake.

"The name's Touya, Touya Todoroki."

Another Todoroki? It was indeed nice to meet him.

Hawks knew he was madly in love with Dabi, there was no use denying that, but him being on a diet didn't mean he couldn't watch what was on the menu, right?

Hawks had come back to his apartment two hours ago. He had left the Todoroki siblings shortly after meeting them, as a report about an aggression had reached him. The number two hero was now busy making sushi. Well, trying and failing was more like it, but life's full of ups and downs, right? Keigo would get better at it in no time. Anyway, Dabi would be home in a few minutes and he'd help salvage what could be.

The sound of the door startled him and he heard footsteps in the hallway. Speaking of the devil… His boyfriend soon appeared at the entrance of the kitchen and stared at him, like he was seeing him for the first time. He approached him and lifted his hand to take a grain of rice off his face. Hawks was mesmerized by the look on his face.

Deep in his thoughts, Dabi turned to leave and sighed. "You're an idiot."

To which Hawks' answer could be nothing but "Maybe, but I'm your idiot!" with a big smile on his face.

Dabi rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Then, Hawks noticed something out of sorts. "Why do you have a shovel?"

In the evening, sprawled on the couch with Hawks' feet on his lap, Dabi felt his phone buzz. Huh. A text from Shigaraki. He frowned. What could he possibly want at this unholy hour? He touched the notification and the message appeared.

Meeting tomorrow at you-know-where about Kurogiri.

It's nearly time to get him out of Tartarus.

Keep the bird out of it.