Chapter 6: Confronted

A few hours later Dabi woke groggily, blinking his tired eyes and trying hard to focus on his surroundings. He was on a hospital bed, the all too familiar smell of burnt flesh heavy in his nostrils. He could hear machines beeping and the far-off sounds of hospital workers speaking to each other. To his left he observed a familiar face.

Enji stared at his son, his face unreadable, even with the flames absent, "We thought you were dead, Toya. We were all very surprised to see you had survived that fire. They told us that you had certainly been consumed by it right down to your bones... your mother and I didn't even know that there was hope to be had."

Dabi tried to sit up, only to realize that he was strapped to the hospital bed that he was laying on. He tried to summon fire impulsively, maybe something to burn away at his bonds, but his head was too fuzzy and he couldn't concentrate.

Watching his actions, Enji shook his head, "You've been drugged so that you won't be able to use your quirk for the time being; we can't have you becoming a hazard to yourself and others like you were back at the bank. You know, that stunt you pulled back there, showing me how hot you could go, it ended up knocking you out and doing a lot of harm to you."

Toya could feel it; the damage that he had taken with his ultimate attack on Endeavor back at the bank ran very deep. He could sense that he had destroyed a lot of tissue within his body, maybe even hurt his organs.

Endeavor leaned forward, his turquoise eyes easily visible without the flames that characteristically hovered about his face, as he stared into his son's similarly colored orbs. "Thank goodness for Recovery Girl; if not for her healing you would be dead." He gave his son a stern look, "You also recklessly hurt your friends with your carelessness."

Dabi tsked, his throat dry and sore as he spoke with raspy words, "I don't have any friends, just like I don't have any family anymore." He leveled an intense glare at his father, though he doubted it had the effect intended while tied to the bed.

Enji leaned back again, his face returning to a look of neutrality that he most often wore, "I could argue with you, but I'm sure you know by now that I prefer to show my convictions as opposed to conversing about them." He stood up, walking over to a door across the room that presumably led to the hospital hallway beyond.

Opening the door, Endeavor stepped aside and Toya's eyes widened to see the crowd of people waiting out in the hall as they began to filter into his room. Todoroki Shoto he might have expected to see, as the youngest member of the family was following in their father's footsteps as far as Dabi knew, something that earned him his elder brother's spite.

His little sister Fuyumi he could reason seeing, too, since she had always had a habit of being rather sentimental about the family. Even after everything he had done, he could understand her taking interest in him, since she was so obsessive about trying to hold their failed family together. His younger brother Natsuo he did not expect, though.

Todoroki Natsuo had been the one whom he had tried to go to when the strain of his parent's expectations of him had weighed heavily on him. Back then, his brother had blown off his attempts to seek council, and made it clear that he didn't want to get involved. Why in the world would he show up now?

Far more shocking, though, was the last person to step through the door, her hands clasping a set of autumn bellflowers as she looked forward towards her son.

Surprise laced Toya's response, "Mother?"

Having been committed to a mental ward many years ago, Dabi could only assume that the strife in their family had been too much for Enji's wife Todoroki Rei. He had heard that she had thrown boiling water on Shoto's face to earn herself a place in that psychiatric hospital. Not only did she seem calm as she stood before him, she did so next to Shoto, the boy she had harmed.

They were all here, all of them. A staggering thought in and of itself. For so long now, Dabi had been telling himself that their family was only going to splinter further on its way to hell, that nothing could stop the fissures that his father had created with his selfish pursuits. He had been convinced that Enji would alienate himself without Toya even needing to assist.

Instead, they were all here, and from the way they came together, from the manner in which they interacted with each other, they looked a lot like the family he never could have imagined them being. Especially mother. Rei moved up to his bed, placing the flowers on the table next to him as she gave him a gentle smile.

"You've been through so much, and we are all here to take accountability for our share in creating the conditions that led to your suffering. I should have never let you go that day, when you told me that I had given up, because in doing so, I proved you right, and failed you as a mother."

Natsuo stepped forward, bowing his head at his elder brother and clearing his throat, "I should have listened when you came to me; I was selfish and stupid, not realizing that I might not get another chance to help you. Over the years that I thought you had died, I have lost count of the days that guilt has stirred in me for letting you down."

Endeavor took his turn to speak, Enji's face far more emotive than usual as he spoke, "Your mother and Natsuo bear far less of the burden of guilt in this than I do. I pushed you so hard that when I realized I needed to stop pushing I had created a burden for you that I didn't know how to remove. I was never able to summon the words I needed..."

Toya's glare turned into a look of astonishment as Enji slowly dropped down to his knees, his head bowed in a traditional sign of apology, "I was a fool, because I told myself that my course was right even though I could see the pain I was causing. I thought that everything would somehow work itself out, but my inaction was cowardice."

"When I learned that your powers were harming you, I knew that I needed to find a way to get you to abandon the path I had set you on, but I was unwilling to admit that I had been that wrong, and unwilling to face the darkness I had stirred in you. I am sorry, my son, and I will prove my words by doing everything I can to help you."

Dabi stared, disbelieving; was this man the same one that had raised him? He seemed nothing like the proud, arrogant Endeavor that had so ruthlessly beaten his principles into the youth at a young age. Even seeing him apologize left him stunned for a moment in and of itself.

His mother leaned in, gently taking her son's head to her bosom in a careful hug, wary of his injuries, "Through no small effort on the behalf of you sister and Shoto, whose forgiveness has created the bridges we needed to find each other again, we are here. Regardless of how we got here and what happened in the past we are and will remain family."

So, she had heard what he had told Enji earlier. Dabi twitched, his face confused as he attempted a half-hearted sneer in his addled state, "I'm a blight on this world now, a representative of father's destructive ego; I bear his sin and his flames, and have murdered countless people to that end. You think we can just join hands and everything will get better?"

He chuckled, but it was a dry, humorless sound. In fact, it sounded pained, and not just because his throat hurt.

.*.

Kai Chisaki glared at the darkly dressed man whom had entered his little domicile. To his surprise, that man only glared back for a full minute before moving to sit comfortably on the couch across from him and begin glaring at him some more. Sporting a rough look with an unshaven chin and wild, long hair, he didn't look like anyone that had come before.

Sitting up with a sigh from his own restful position, Kai questioned him, "Are you a councilor? I thought I didn't have a session until tomorrow... you look like shit."

Aizawa took the former yakuza's measure, looking him over, "You have been better as well. If you care above shaving, we can have the orderly whom helps you with bathing assist in that regard; I'm a little surprised if they didn't offer."

Chisaki scratched at the stubble on his chin with one of the nubs that his arms both ended in, just past the elbow, shrugging, "They did, but I declined. I don't think I have much reason to bother trying to make myself presentable, and I don't trust them to make sure the razor is clean enough."

Shota nodded, "That's right; you have mysophobia. I assure you that everything here is properly cleaned to the highest standards possible. I am not a councilor, Kai Chisaki, at least not one of the ones that come here to serve as your professional therapists."

Narrowing his eyes, Kai frowned at Aizawa; this man spoke with a slow, calm, almost bored pattern of speech that sounded a lot like the way that Chisaki himself spoke. Despite his relaxed demeanor, though, Kai could tell that he was being watchful. "You are a hero? I don't recognize you."

With a dismissive gesture, Shota replied, "I try to avoid the news teams. Publicity is said to be important to heroes, but if you're content to live modestly, recognition isn't necessary to do the work. This way I don't have to deal with all the hassle that comes with being well known."

Kai's frown deepened, "So why are you here, then? I'm fairly certain that the government or U.A. don't need so much security for a man that needs help bathing and eating..."

Aizawa answered simply, "Well, I still am a sort of councilor, and while I don't have any degrees to aid me in helping with your rehab, there are other powers I wield that might assist with the program. I hear from the others you keep asking to be allowed to see your former boss?"

His face becoming serious, Chisaki's eyes hardened, "You get straight to the point; I prefer that. Yes, I wish to see the previous leader of the Shie Hassaikai, as he was in critical condition the last time that I saw him."

Shota nodded again, "Very well." He stood up, walking to the door before turning to look back at Kai, whom watched him warily, "Well, are you coming...?"

Kai only stared for a moment, completely taken off guard with how easily he had been granted the demand he had been making. He had told his 'therapist' wardens that if they wanted him to play along with their twenty questions game that they would need to trade a favor. He had told them that he would tell them whatever they wanted to hear.

But only if he was allowed to see the boss. He hadn't actually expected them to cave and give him what he wanted, though. Not for any reason based on working it out, per se, but because his luck lately had been so abysmal, he had started to believe that only negative things could happen in his blighted life anymore.

Blinking, he stood, feeling a little numb again, a feeling he often felt anymore as he rode the unpredictable wave of his always changing circumstances. No, he thought; not unpredictable. If he could get his head straight, it wasn't a huge leap in logic why this hero was helping him. He was no threat to anyone in his condition.

A quick trip to see an unresponsive coma patient in a secured hospital was a perfectly legitimate trade for whatever information about the Shie Hassaikai or another family of the yakuza or whatever it was that these people wanted from him. He didn't know what their end goal really was and honestly, he didn't care.

He stumbled after Aizawa as the hero lead him down a long hallway and through a security checkpoint, a familiar fortified wall and then out onto the campus grounds itself as they headed for the exit of U.A. to finally arrive at a police escort waiting for them on the street outside. He was unconcerned with how eager he must look.

Who cared what they thought. His mind was almost feverish with focus on the fact that he was finally going to be able to face his mentor after all this time. As he ducked his head to climb into the vehicle, he broke into a nervous sweat, as well as some hives when a policeman gently touched his head to guide him into the seat.

"Don't touch me..." he growled, though his anxiety took the edge out of a statement that he would normally have been extremely passionate about. He had certainly changed in the time since he had been apprehended after the huge battle that had taken place back at Shie Hassaikai headquarters. He had been forced into so much filth...

It was impossible to respond in his usual germophobic way to all of what he considered to be unpleasantly unsanitary practices as a prisoner, to the point where he had given up a little in even fighting over some of it anymore. Coupling that with his almost unhinged state of mind since guilt had gnawed at his sanity, he practically didn't respond anymore.

He chewed at his bottom lip, watching the buildings pass by as the city streets, lights and people flitted by his peripheral vision. His growing anxiety wasn't about his fears concerning the teeming diseases rampant in the decaying, festering human melting pot that was Musutafu, Japan. His mind was overrun with the one concern that was all he could think about.

Finally, after all this time he was actually going to visit the man that had been like a father to him, saving him from his pitiable childhood. The man that he had ruined, the one person whom had cared for him that he had betrayed. Irrevocably. What in the world was he going to do when he got there... was there anything he could do that would matter?

They arrived at the hospital; Kai silent as they walked the halls. Aizawa spoke briefly to a doctor, and then they were allowed into the solitary room that was Chisaki's objective.

An older man lay out upon a single hospital bed hooked to various different machines that constantly intoned an array of beeping and gurgling sounds. Kai's throat tightened at the sight of him. His mentor's face was ashen white, his closed eyes sunken. The previous leader of his yakuza family was bone-thin, emaciated.

Even through the hospital gown Chisaki could see that his chest was only rising and falling with effort, and that the old lord's ribs jutted prominently. He had been on the verge of death for too long, and it was only a matter of time before his body finished the transition to being fully dead. And, of course, it was all Kai Chisaki's fault.

Aizawa quietly entered the room behind him, moving to a corner and staying very still, so that it was easy for Kai to forget about his presence. No one else came in, only the humming machinery creating noise in that small space. Chisaki's adoptive father was breathing in such shallow breaths that his breathing could not be heard at all.

After this tense silence had continued for some time, Chisaki did the only thing that he could think of to do, since he was helpless to think of anything better. He spoke, "I-I'm sorry, boss. I thought that I knew what I was doing, that we had what was needed to clean this world of ours from the disease... from the mutations that are quirks."

"I thought that we might be the only chance available, and I became obsessed, like it was a holy mission, and I couldn't understand why you wouldn't be willing to make the sacrifices needed for such a greater good as I saw it." A tear ran its way down Chisaki's cheek as he splayed his arms imploringly as he tried to explain himself.

"Putting you in a coma seemed perfectly reasonable then. I tried to be as kind as you would be for Eri's sake too... bought her toys and fed her well, had a guy assigned to watch over her but also to play with her and keep her entertained." His gaze dropped to the floor, ashamed, "Of course, none of the guys could hack it; she was still miserable."

His voice cracked, "And why wouldn't she be? I was ripping her apart and putting her back together over and over again, it must have hurt just as much as you told me it would, but I didn't listen... I thought it was worth it, I thought I was right." He paused, taking a breath, "She screamed a lot; I made your granddaughter suffer too, and I'm so very sorry!"

Kai dropped down to his knees, twin streams running the length of his face as he gazed up at the form on the hospital bed before him, "I told myself that I could make it all right again afterwards, that was the reasoning that allowed me to betray you and harm a little girl! I was going to restore you to health and accept whatever punishment you thought fit!"

He wept, sobbing as he stared at the dying man, "I-I imagined deep in my heart that y-you would see the work I had done and would be proud of m-me for saving this world from this plague. I-I was such a f-fool! N-now it was f-for nothing, and I have murdered you! I have k-killed you and you can't even hear how s-sorry I am now..."

Dropping his head to the floor, Chisaki went quiet as he cried, apparently having given up on speaking to the unresponsive yakuza boss.

"So, is that it, then?" Aizawa's voice echoed in the room once the silence had endured for several minutes.

Lifting his head from the floor, Kai was dimly aware that he had a new bruise on his forehead from planting himself too hard into the tile. That pain was ignored, though, his face twisting incredulously as he remembered that he wasn't alone. The shadow that had been observing him the entire time had suddenly decided to speak.

"What?" Chisaki drawled, somewhere between reckless rage and hopeless despair. Was this asshole mocking him?

Shota took a few steps closer, glancing poignantly at the downed boss before staring hard down his nose at Kai, "Is this all you came to do?"

The youth's face kept jumping back and forth between anger, confusion and disbelief. What the hell... was this guy trying to pick a fight with a cripple? But Chisaki had never really been the sort of man that would let his frustrations rule him; his mentor had raised him better than that. He took a deep breath as he really thought on what the hero was saying.

Was this it? Had he spent so much of his time, effort and energy just to do something as fruitless as what he had just done? He couldn't stay angry at Shota, not when he knew the person he needed to be angry at was himself. This had been selfish; he had wanted closure, and desperately hoped that a one-sided, unheard apology would bring him peace.

But the demons in his head were still there. His guilt was still there, like a fog roiling around him that refused to dissipate. Had he really not thought through to what he would do if this didn't help? No, he had... he just hadn't been able to come up with anything. Worse, he had pushed the thoughts away upon failing that, like a coward.

His eyes had been darting around the room as he had stumbled to his feet, thinking. With a sudden manic focus, he glanced back over to Aizawa to see that the hero still regarded him coolly in the same stance he had been before, unmoving. Waiting for his reply. With a rush of clarity, Kai understood that his answer was very important at this juncture.

"I don't know..."

As soon as those words slipped, raspy and full of dread from his lips he could see that he was speaking the truth about where he was in life now. He was lost. He dropped to his knees again, what strength he had managed in his anger gone from him, renewed tears streaking his visage, but he no longer cared about saving face.

Looking up at the dark, brooding man whom watched him so intently, like the grim reaper himself, sent to judge his soul's worth, he whispered, "Please... help me fix this."