Author's Note: So started school and hate it. Decided to write this chapter instead. It's not really a cutesy chapter but it will go back to that in the next few chapters. A special Thank you to everyone who reviewed and fav/followed this story. Also, this story has reached over 1,000 views and wow never imagined that would happen. I wrote this bc I like Shoto's character and it never sat right with me how he was raised. I replied to reviews at the end.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the My Hero Academia universe, manga, characters, tv show, movies, etc. This is just for fun.
Chapter 6:
They were taken to an empty warehouse. The windows were all boarded up and it looked like it had been abandoned for a couple of years. Neglect and disuse were shown in the decaying wood beams and the disgusting grime-covered floor. Aylee was still unconscious but began to show some signs of waking. Shoto chose to keep this important observation to himself when he noticed her face twitch. He only hoped that she would wake up soon and run away with him.
A light blue-haired man was impatiently pacing back and forth a couple of yards away in the center of the abandoned building. A large hand acted as a mask and covered his face from view, except for his malevolent red eyes. He seemed to be waiting for them to arrive while muttering indecipherable things to himself.
One quick glance at him and Shoto could tell that this villain was definitely easy to irritate and absolutely unhinged.
They walked over to the man who hadn't noticed their arrival at first, but his calculating gaze landed on the approaching group. Eagerly he examined the hostages trapped in his subordinates arms. The man let out a low and raspy cackle as he took in the sight before him.
"You got the brat," his voice carried and unpleasantly grated against Shoto's eardrums. If the blonde girl didn't restrain him so painfully, he would have covered his ears from the unsettling noise. It seemed like the man wasn't expecting an actual response to his question and turned his eyes to the unconscious member of their party. "Whatcha got there, Dabi?"
Dabi gives a little smirk at Shigaraki and said, "A tool we can use to get the kid to comply a little easier."
"Excellent, do I need to order you to do everything or can you handle this?"
Dabi turned around sharply scoffing in disgust at Shigaraki's efforts to belittle him in front of everyone. He walked towards the only room with an intact door. The flame villain didn't outwardly show his real emotions to the rest of his comrades. He wouldn't ever trust anyone to gain that kind of knowledge without using it against him. Dabi shifted the woman in his arms slightly to turn the knob on the door before walking into the dark and somewhat damp room. It was freezing and if he could feel it, that must mean that it was close to freezing for her. That would be useful and tilted the scales in Dabi's favor. After all, he had no obligation to make her comfortable. He smiled at her shivering body and eyed the various cuts and bruises, courtesy of Toga.
He sat her body down onto the chair placed strategically in the middle of the room. It reminded him of a dilapidated interrogation room. But with more toys, for him to play with. Not that he needed them, they were just there for intimidation purposes. Fire was his preferred weapon of persuasion. And everyone breaks at one point with enough pain as the catalyst. Dabi knew this from personal experience. Not that he would tell anyone of that fact.
Next, Dabi cuffed her hands behind her back and tied a thick black blindfold to cover her eyes with. Satisfied with his work, the man casually leaned up against the wall with his turquoise gaze trained onto her. She looked pathetic and helpless like that. Dabi was almost tempted to duck tape her mouth shut to complete the look. A deranged smirk spread across his scarred mouth. Maybe later he thought to himself.
Aylee began to wake up a few minutes later. Her fingers twitched from the pain and that's when she noticed the handcuffs pinching at her wrists. She let out an annoyed sigh at the tight blindfold. They were smart, she had to give them that. A smooth cocky voice interrupted her inner monologue.
"Finally, princess. Thought you would never wake up."
Her face whipped blindly towards where she heard the sound coming from. She gave him a sneer and if she wasn't wearing a blindfold right now, Dabi imagined he would already be writhing on the ground in agony. He's almost tempted to take off the blindfold just to see her fiery glare focused on him, and him alone.
"Well, you knocked me out what did you expect?" she sarcastically asks him.
Aylee strained her ears for sounds anyone else in the room and panicked at not hearing Shoto at all. Her heart ached in discomfort at what they could possibly have planned for him. She thought it may have something to do with his infamous father. Maybe these villains wanted revenge against Endeavor. She can't exactly blame them if that was the truth. But, Aylee needed to protect her charge. And time wasn't on her side right now.
"Missing something"
The brunette didn't respond to his taunt. He most likely wouldn't tell her anything anyway. Aylee never imagined that being kidnapped would be this irritating. But, man this guy just can't seem to shut up. Maybe he liked to hear himself talk. How annoying.
Dabi eyes traced the fresh burn mark ingrained onto her neck. "Who did that to your neck, boyfriend?"
"No." she said in a deadpanned voice.
"Oh, then girlfriend?"
"No." She refused to give him any vital information about her life, especially her sexual preferences. He's just some low tier villain looking to gain some attention. Deep down, Aylee knew that there were different reasons for becoming a villain. Some did so to survive, others are consumed by greed. But, the worst and most dangerous villains were the people who desire to see the world crumble to dust just to prove something. The woman hasn't talked with Dabi long enough to identify which type he was. Frankly, she didn't want to find out.
"Well, it looks like a burn handprint and not many people around here have a fire quirk." Dabi definitely had a strong suspicion of who gave her the burn. It was just so much fun to push her buttons. Her reactions were too good to pass up. So like a dog with a bone, the bored villain kept gnawing at her for an answer.
"Come on, humor me."
The woman harshly sighed. Tired and annoyed by his useless questions she forcefully bit out, "Fine, it was Endeavor." Aylee didn't get to see his manic grin at her response. Any sane person would have run far away from the look on the villain's face. This woman keeps getting even more interesting in Dabi's eyes. He wanted to know everything. Even if he had to peel her layer by layer into submission, he was going to quench his insatiable curiosity.
"Wow, what did you do to piss off that jackass?" His eyes leered at her restrained body as she nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders.
"What else? Wounded his ego."
That earned her a loud and jarring laugh from the villain. The sudden sound made the woman flinch a bit before she forced her body to relax against the back of the uncomfortable chair. Aylee flexed her hands behind her back, testing the strength of the handcuffs. It won't be easy. She would have to break her fingers to slip her hand through. Dabi finally pulled himself together somewhat and his laughs died down into unnerving chuckles.
"A fragile butterfly like you, harming someone's confidence. Didn't take you for that."
Aylee still boiled in anger from seeing how Shoto was treated by his father. "I'd do anything to protect a child in need. Even if that means defending them from their own shitty parents."
Dabi was surprised by the honest conviction he heard in her tone. He could tell that she meant every word she said, it disgusted him. Her caring nature towards the kid made him want to torch her body and watch his blue flames melt her skin onto the pavement. Would she scream in horror or cry in relief when the nerves in her body finally become numb to pain. Maybe she would welcome his fiery touch with an eager smile. Lost in his psychotic fantasy, he missed the sound of the door slamming open.
Aylee's head turned towards the abrupt sound and frowned at the sound of someone struggling. Shigaraki threw Shoto's body against the concrete at her feet. He whimpered at the hard impact and curled his body inwards.
"Shoto, join us in our fight to change the world's view on the false heroes." Shigaraki stared down expectantly at the trembling 5-year-old boy. Shoto's red and white head shook back and forth in denial of the villain's 'generous' offer.
"I won't ask twice." Shigaraki's patience was running thin. Wasn't this kid abused? The blue-haired villain's intel told him that the kid would jump at the chance for revenge.
"No." Shoto firmly said. He sat up on his knees and huddled himself closer to Aylee's legs. His caretaker could feel him trembling against her shins.
Shigaraki was pleased with Dabi for the first time ever. That idiot was right in bringing her along with the brat. This won't take long.
Shigaraki stalked toward the chair and roughly grabbed ahold of Aylee's shoulder. With all five of his fingers pressed down, her skin began to decay. A scream slipped out of Aylee's mouth. She was unprepared to endure any more pain. But this was much more than she's ever experienced in her entire life. A whole new meaning to the word torture.
Shoto lunged himself at Shigaraki, but before he could attack, A serrated knife was pressed against his throat. The blonde villain scooped him up in her arms while still holding the blade threateningly over his carotid artery. She giggled and kissed the side of his head. Shoto wanted to scrub his now dirty skin raw from Toga's kiss and have Aylee replace it with one of her own. Toga spotted his frown and cackled crazily, "Aww little brother, you don't like my kiss?" Shoto furiously shook his head no. He felt a small prick of pain and guessed that he moved too much while Toga still held her knife to him.
Shigaraki was not pleased with how this was going. He had to force Shoto to his side fast before people came looking for the kidnapped pair. The villain turned towards Dabi with a smirk hidden behind his mask and a glint in his red eyes. "Let's turn up the heat."
Dabi looked unperturbed at the command and stalked towards Aylee. He almost shuddered at the feeling of his hand wrapped around her already vulnerable throat. The rapid beating of her pulse fluttered against his fingers. It brought a new sort of pleasure to the villain to witness. Now, for his favorite part. Dabi's hand became engulfed by blue flames and the smell of burning flesh drifted up to his nose. Dabi thought it smelled like a delicate perfume. He was so drunk on the sight and smell before him, that he was practically deaf to her screams.
Aylee's skin on her neck was already tender from Endeavor's small burn. But this was beyond pain. It was absolutely excruciating to endure. Her ears were ringing and she could faintly hear someone screaming. Was something wrong with Shoto, or were these her own screams? Most likely the latter.
Dabi's burn made Endeavor's look like a mild sunburn. As if he wasn't totally satisfied with his handiwork, Dabi added his other hand to the unscathed side of her neck. Aylee's screams increased and her body began to violently jerk, trying to escape the pain. Dabi focused his blank gaze on her face and was elated by what he saw. Her blindfold had become soaked with her involuntary tears and dripped down her flushed cheeks.
Shoto's screamed even louder when the flame villain added another hand to her already scorched throat. He began struggling in Toga's arms and his left side burst into towering orange and red flames. Toga dropped him immediately to the ground with a sharp yelp from her now singed forearms.
Shoto heard Aylee stop screaming and began to wheeze, desperate for air. His mismatched eyes noticed her lips turned an alarming shade of blue from a lack of oxygen in her lungs.
Suddenly, the boy rapidly aged back to his 14-year-old body. His shirt ripped in half from the alarming change but thankfully his sweatpants remained somewhat intact. A little short on his legs now. All of the villains looked at Shoto with shocked expressions on their faces. Shoto didn't hesitate in their distracted state and immediately acted. He used his right side to blast ice and freeze everyone in place. It proved effective on most of the villains, except for Dabi. But, the teen prepared for that outcome. Shoto now shot his orange flames at Dabi, forcing the other flame user to step back from Aylee to defend himself.
Dabi dodged the large stream of fire and smirked at Shoto. "You're going to have to do a lot better than that kid."
Dabi raised his hand towards Shoto intending to burn the teen into a crisp when he heard a sharp gasp from Aylee. He turned his turquoise gaze to the woman and was surprised to see the handcuffs were no longer restraining her. One of Aylee's hands appeared to be disfigured and mangled, but Dabi had to give her credit for having the guts to break her own hand to escape. It was impressive.
He made a mistake in looking at her face. She had already ripped off her blindfold. Dabi couldn't look away as her eyes flashed to a sparkling black. Suddenly, reality shifted and Dabi began to see his worst nightmares come to life. His body crumpled to the ground like an unused puppet and his quirk unconsciously activated. But, the blue flames kept eating at their host's body.
Shoto was alarmed by the shift in his caretaker but, proud that she helped herself escape her bindings. Hopefully, he would find more about what had happened later. For now, he needed to get her out of here to a safer place.
Aylee's eyes faded back to hazel and they fluttered in exhaustion from using her quirk in her condition. Shoto ran over to Aylee and quickly gathered her up into his arms. Using his right side, they easily skated out of there on his ice.
Aylee went in and out of consciousness and the last thing she remembered seeing was Shoto's worried face above her. His mouth was moving, but she couldn't understand what he was saying. Her eyelids closed shut and her mind fell asleep to allow her body to recuperate and begin to heal itself.
"Don't fall asleep. Stay with me, mom."
Review Replies:
SecretPeach - thanks! it couldn't stay cute forever.
M - Didn't mean to make you nervous! but hopefully, this chapter will ease your nerves a little. :)
HeavenlyMonster - thank you! Comments like yours make me want to continue writing this. I really appreciate it.
Pika Hime - Yeah Dabi is an ass and not to mention crazy. It was really hard to get into what I think his mindset is. hopefully, it's not too far off base.
Thanks for reading and reviewing everyone! I will always try to reply to them as best as I can.
~ Mad About Love