Thanks Katy-chan for help with the timeline, and if any of you are curious I updated the tags

chapter six: new names for new people

Megumi fit comfortably in her lap. It's a miracle that Shiba Inus practically raise themselves and are small to boot, but it was even better that Tenko had finally come around to the little puffball. It was a touch-and-go process overall, but the pup was friendly, Tenko was beginning to adore the little thing, and Julie was feeling proud. While not the best decision to bring him in so abruptly, she was glad it worked out well in the end.

Taking another bite of her cereal (god, she was glad they had American-styled products), she ruffled the fur in between Megumi's ears when he started to whine, and he settled down quickly after that, nuzzling Julie's hand with his nose. Grinning to herself, she turned her focus back to the news after setting down her bowl with a small clink.

"—the Dragon Villain, known as Flamethrower, was arrested early this morning by Endeavor, the Number Two Pro-Hero. Officials say that a total of three were killed in the fight, with another eighteen injured. Endeavor was unfortunately unavailable for comments, but—" the news lady was saying just as Touya entered the room, shoulders tense and eyes looking everywhere but the TV. Julie caught his eye as he stood rigidly beside the couch, looking ready to bolt at a moment's notice.

Repressing a frown, Julie turned off the TV and turned to Touya, who was still fidgeting slightly, picking at the bandages protecting his forearms.

It hadn't taken her long to figure out the boy had a problem with the Hero (she had her suspicions, but she wouldn't do anything with them just yet) and made a point to keep any mention of him out of the house. It helped that Tenko still kept a strong resentment towards Heroes as a whole.

Quickly but very much in his line of sight, Julie snatched his hand and brought it back to his side with a concerned look. Touya jolted at the touch, but let her do it with only a small grimace. He shook his head like he was clearing his thoughts after a moment, then looked up from where his gaze had dropped to the floor. He was still a bit skittish, but they were working on it. Megumi seemed to sense his unease and jumped up from his spot on Julie, hopping up on the arm of the cough and trying to lick at Touya's scarred face. He grinned wearily at the attention and settled for petting the dog as he gathered his scattered thoughts.

Julie was concerned that his scars weren't healing.

It had been several weeks since she had found him in that alley, now leading into October, but the red never seemed to fade from his skin and his eyes were always hollow, like he couldn't escape the past. Julie knew he would have a hard time leaving everything behind, but that's why she had gotten Megumi. She knew it would take time, but she wanted her kid to be out in the world again without anything to fear—without feeling like it was always his fault when something went wrong.

Touya shifted, and she focused back in time to see him holding the pup to his chest.

The scars had left his skin red and tender and broken, but he said he didn't mind.

Julie grinned wearily at the sight.

He still hated the smell of burning meat and the crackle of red flames.

Touya smiled back.

"Did you need something, kiddo?" Julie asked conversationally, pretending that her boys weren't broken and that Heroes did nothing to help them when they could and that they didn't flinch back when startled or how they never leave her side in public because they're afraid, always afraid, or— "You look like you got somethin' on your mind."

Touya still hesitated for only a moment, fidgeting with the dog's tail, before he seemed to decide to get it over with.

"Uhm…yeah. I was hoping that you could—we- well, that you and T- Tenko could call me—" he stopped, took a shaky breath, released it, and said, "I-was-wondering-if-you-could-call-me-Dabi."

Julie blinked owlishly, slowly running over what he said again in her head, trying to decipher it. He had said it in one breath, and she wasn't keen on having him repeat it again if it made him stammer like that. It was unnatural to see him so flustered, so she supposed it must really mean something to him. Still, she wasn't fluent in Japanese just yet, so it took her another two minutes to figure it out.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, probably a bit too loudly, if she was judging Touya's wince right. His grip had tightened on Megumi in anticipation, and he didn't look too happy about it. Sheepishly, she hummed out a thoughtful tune, and said, "What was the name again? I don't think I'm familiar with it."

Touya blinked back in surprise like he hadn't expected her to readily agree to his request - and, didn't that sting a little? He still was unsure if he could trust her - but he nonetheless managed to stutter out, "Uh, Duh- Dabi. It, um, means cremation, like my…like my Quirk." He trailed off at the end, but Julie picked up on it. Her sheepish expression fell, and she put on a little smile. Her freckles tingled a little, and they began glowing a soft, calming purple.

"Of course, Dabi. We'd be happy to." Julie stood from the couch and quickly wrapped Tou- Dabi in a loose hug so that he could slip out if he was uncomfortable, being mindful of Megumi. Except- he didn't. He stood in her hold, shoulders slowly loosening, and he let out a choked noise as his head buried in her shoulder. She could smell the hair dye as he leaned closer, but she didn't mind the scent. It helped to hide the ashen smell that always seemed to cling to him, and it made him happy, so she wouldn't complain (even if the bathroom always smelled awful afterwards).

"Let's go tell Koko, then we'll go take Megumi for a walk. How does that sound?" Julie asked, peering down at Touya- Dabi through dark blue hair, who nodded into her shoulder. (He was getting taller, damnit!)

He sniffled a little, then mumbled out a "Sounds great." Julie grinned and began tugging him down the hallway towards her boys' room. She didn't let go.

Turns out Tenko was delighted to call him Cremation.

The air was crisp with fallen leaves, the wind swirling around orange and red leaves across the ground to chase after their heels.

Megumi raced ahead, jumping in and out of huge piles of leaves that had gathered up, letting out little yips of excitement as they caught in his pelt. Tenko had been wary of the dog at first, keeping his distance and little by little allowing the dog to get closer to him. First by small sniffs of his hand, then allowing Megumi to nudge his head against his shin, to the point the boy was comfortable enough with him to sit in his lap and even lick at his face after he had some peanut butter.

(Megumi was similar to Mon, and even though it hurt, he still loved that dog.)

Tenko grinned as the pup stumbled, falling into another leaf pile and sending them scattering. They were picked up by the wind and carried off in seconds.

Beside him, Julie was holding Dabi's hand - much to the older boy's embressement- and swinging their arms, humming an upbeat tune that matched the gold color of her freckles. The woman seemed content with their slow pace, so Tenko wasn't about to rush them to the ice cream parlor, even if he really really wanted ice cream. But he supposed it was a nice day out…

Birds chirped in the trees above, the few people out called greetings as they passed, and Megumi seemed happy enough to keep running into trees in his pursuit for squirrels.

It didn't take them long to reach the ice cream place, and soon enough they were making their orders with their dog tied to a pole outside.

Dabi, the crime against nature that he was, got strawberry ice cream with freaking avocados and caramel syrup. Tenko glared at the older boy in absolute disgust, and just to spite him, Dabi made sure to bite the freaking ice cream- that's it, Tenko is an only child now.

Julie let out a strangled noise from beside him, siding like she just snorted and was choking on a peanut at the same time. "You—" Julie cut herself off to make another weird sound, "—what the fuck, Dabi, I can't believe my own child would commit such an atrocious act!" Dabi startled at her calling him her kid, then flushed a brighter red than his strawberry ice cream. Tenko snickered behind his cone of plain chocolate and mini marshmallows, thank you very much.

Julie's freckles turned an ugly green color as she made a show of gagging, then said loudly in a stilted voice, "Yea, I'll get a mcfudgin' rocky road with fudge, please." She sent a disgraced look at Dabi like he broke a plate and blamed the dog (which he totally did, even if Tenko's evidence magically disappeared), and the server gave her her order. Some of the other patrons sent small glares over at the trio as the cashier person rung up their total, but Dabi had already put his mask back in place - one of those black bear ones - and they went to go take seats at the front of the shop in case they had to bolt for any reason.

Julie sat with her back to the window, effectively cutting off anyone's view of them if they tried to peek in, and Tenko and Dabi sat with their backs to the shop so no security camera caught their faces. Finally, when they were all settled, the two peeled off their masks and dug into their treat.

Julie let out a little trill of happiness when she took a bit from her ice cream, eyes sparkling and freckles turning a pale shade of yellow-orange. Tenko smiled at the sight, rolling his eyes when Dabi piped up. "Look, it's not like the cold has any affect on me anyways. I have an affinity to anything cold but can be burned by things, which is pretty fuckin' stupid."

Julie sent Dabi a mild glare at the curse, but let it slip when the boy took a bite of salted avocado—god, kill me now.

"It's still a frickin' disgrace, you heathen," Tenko snapped from where he was digging his spoon into his ice cream rather viciously; Julie was grinning at him. "Also, why are we eating ice cream? We haven't even had lunch yet."

The woman shrugged, licking a piece of her ice cream when it started tipping. "Well, one, to celebrate Dabi here shedding his dead name—" she nodded her head to Dabi, who sat up straighter with a soft smile on his face, "—and because it's ice cream." Julie laughed when Tenko rolled his eyes again.

He felt warm and happy, and he was so glad to have a family - a real family - but…

Tenko took another bite of his ice cream, faltering when he came back to something that had been bothering him for a while. He had thought about it long and hard, and he… "I want to change my last name," he said abruptly, missing the startled look from Julie and the suddenly glassy sheen to Dabi's eyes. "I- I don't like it anymore. Plus, it'll draw attention, um, you know? So I think it'll—I think it'll be best to change it." Tenko couldn't bring himself to look up from the table counter, but he could feel Julie's eyes on him.

The other two didn't say anything for a long time, and Tenko stewed quietly, his nervous spiking by the second.

Then, when the silence was stretching far too much for his liking and beginning to make him regret blurting it out (what if she didn't let him? What if she told him there was nothing to be done and that it was a waste of time?), a hand fell on his, squeezing tightly enough to surprise him. The touch was comforting and grounding, and when he looked up Julie was looking at him with adoration in her pale green eyes.

"Of—of course, we can fix that. Not, uh, officially, but—but, you can have any name you want. Fuck, take mine, i- if you're uh- up for it—it." Julie's voice pittered out, but Tenko didn't notice as he jumped across the table to wrap her in a tight hug, tears springing from his eyes before he could stop them, but he didn't want to stop them—not this time. No, for the first time in a very long time, these were happy tears.

Julie seemed surprised by the sudden hug, but she eagerly returned it, sighing harshly into his shoulder as she held him close. "Fuck, I love you kids," he heard her murmur, but he didn't understand it. It took a few moments, but they eventually pulled away, and Tenko scarfed down the rest of his ice cream in seconds. He sniffled a little, but there was a happy smile on his face.

Dabi piped up from his seat, looking a little happy but a little confused. "Why not 'officially'?"

"Hmm?" Julie hummed, wiping her nose on a napkin she had grabbed earlier. "Oh, um, yeah, I forgot about that little snafu." Her head tilted up, studying the ceiling in silence for a moment as she thought, then looked back at the two of them, uncertain.

Tenko felt his gut churn in unease.

"See, uh," Julie started, then backtracked. "Touya here- fuck, sorry, Dabi is probably dead. Well, 'officially' anyways. See, there were no missing posters or news reports asking about him, so no one is looking for him, so I can only assume his family either doesn't…want him, or they think he's dead…" Julie's voice faltered, and she cast an apologetic look to Dabi, but Tenko kept his gaze fixed ahead. She turned to him. "As for you, well, you're on the run, kiddo. It's not like I can waltz into court and file for a name change." Tenko stiffened, but Julie didn't seem to notice as she thought. "Anyways, with you both either dead or on the lam, I can't file any official paperwork to change your names like that or legally put you into my custody—I don't have any illegal contacts, no matter what the movies say," Julie muttered the last part with a scowl. She shook her head. "The best I can do is make some false identification papers and hope nobody comes sniffing around." She looked nervous at the thought.

"How would you do that?" Touy- Dabi asked curiously, having finished the last of his abomination of an ice cream.

Julie shrugged. "The fuck should I know? Just, maybe, like…fuck, maybe I can just find some way to get some fake birth certificates?" She groaned, rubbing her temples, before sitting back up with that same smile on her face from when she first welcomed Tenko into her home. "It's nice to meet you, Chiba Tenko, Chiba Dabi."