Izuku did as told shift his body in the bench so his side was almost pressed against the person he was supposed to be afraid of. "Ok so this is what were gonna do" Dabi started enjoying the star eyed look Izuku was giving him,as if he was the holder of all the answers of the universe, as a villain he was never looked at like that much less by a hero student. "Ill read a couple words and you'll repeat after me Ill correct what you say wrong till you can read the whole think, k?" Izuku just stared, was Dabi really about to help him? With his test? Izuku stared at Dabi, incredulous until he was snapped out of it by a slap to the back of the head "um yeah that works...thank you" Dabi laughed quietly "I have nothing better to do".
For the next 3 hours both boys sat on that bench in that abandoned park, Dabi patiently going over words Izuku had trouble pronouncing helping him perfect the sounds he couldn't make. The scared man was surprisingly calm and felt incredibly safe to be around. He was not the kind of person you'd expect to be patient and actually really good at teaching but here he was in the middle of the night teaching Izuku how to say his presentation better than his middle school teachers could have ever.
Teaching Izuku took forever but Dabi somehow enjoyed teaching the kid. It wasn't so much the teaching that made him happy but more the kid himself. Izuku Midoriya had a charm to him, in the way he ogled at someone he admired with literal stars in his eyes happiness radiating from his body and infection everything within a 10 meter radius. Yes Dabi knew that Izuku would never look up to him for real and didn't particularly want him to, he was a villain after all but this, the way Izuku stared as he read the text in English, the way he looked at him was something he couldn't describe.
After exactly three hours and twenty four minutes they were done and Izuku could recite his text with impeccable fluency by heart. "Thank you so much for helping me!" Izuku said and smiled and holy shit Dabi wasn't aware that smiles could blind but here he was struggling to not squint at the sheet brightness of the smile Izuku wore. A smile that could warm the hearts of anyone and everyone he was sure even Shigaraki would melt at the sight.
"No problem hero" he said, for the first time in years he had said the word "hero" with no venom paced in his words just certainty that yes, one day this kid was going to be a hero. Dabi patted the green haired boys head making said boy flinch but he couldn't blame him, he was still Dabi, still a villain and still very much a threat to all heroes, English presentation or not.
That night Izuku fell asleep with a new perspective on villains. Sure he would still fight than with all he had because no amount of genuine kindness and help with English justified murder but now he saw villains as much more than just horrible people that disturbed the earth because it was fun. No now he saw villains for who they really were. People. People just like him who unlike him decided to do crime to cope with whatever they were dealing with. But unlike what he had thought their change in ideas didn't change who they were inside. Chances were that David had always been a great teacher and talented at English no matter what he decided to do and what people he decided to follow. Izuku fell asleep with those new and fresh views in mind and a soft smile on his lips.
Dabi on the other hand lay awake at the league of villains' hideout thinking over all the events of that night. He didn't know why he hadn't killed the kid,sure he said he was not in the mood but that had never stopped him before so why now? Was it that the kid was on the verge of a panic attack and that reminded him of his old self? Was it the fatigue? Was it just that he was stupid and he just made a big mistake. But teaching that kid had felt great, he had felt important to someone something he hadn't felt in a while. Sure he was important to the league but if he were to disappear then they would just replace him and he wasn't even going to think about his father. But to that kid he was important in a twisted sort of way. If he hadn't been there then the kid would have for sure fails the up coming test, there was no one else to help him so that meat Dabi was important if only for his grade but that didn't matter, be would relish in the feelings of being wanted. The same feeling that has thrummed through his bones when the boy had looked at him, awe struck the first time he'd spoken in English.
Another thing that struck Dabi to the core was what was written onto the paper he read and reread all night. In short it was a list of all of Midoriya's motives and gosh damn it were they deep. This kid was nothing like his father was he wasn't in it for the money, the fame, any of it not he was in it to make people feel safe, he was in it to show villains the right way to justice, to guide the world to brighter era of peace and as cheesy and cliche as it may be, to save everyone with a smile. Yeah, some of the words on that crumpled piece of paper, strung together perfectly resonated deep within him and he to fell asleep with a different outlook on life and how to live his own.
