You held me down, but I got up
Get ready 'cause I had enough
I see it all, I see it now - Roar by Katy Perry
AN/Mentions of spousal abuse. Extreme adult on child violence. Feel free to skip this chapter, it's just a flashback.
"Toya!" Enji was looking for me again. Not dad. Not even father. I rubbed my eyes and turned my neck to see the huge man stalking the bamboo floors. I crouched under the stairs in the grand foyer, where it was too dark for him to see me. Everyone else had wisely fled the area when he'd come home.
"Get your ass out here now, boy! You have to train! Get strong! You gonna cry all day and night? No son of mine-!" He must have gone down the hallway, so I stood, dusting my slacks.
"Honey," My mom found me first, and I bit my lip. "Your father will be angry if you don't go to him. I know he's hard, but he only wants to make you strong."
"I'm strong enough." I gave mom a quick hug, "You'd better go; hide in the library."
Mother frowned, but I knew she would do as I asked. She wasn't the type to force a confrontation. I wasn't either, but I knew if I didn't let dad beat on me, he'd be after her next. If he couldn't find her... I shook my head. My big sister had nothing to worry about, nor did my next younger brother. But Shoto, the baby, would get it next. We were the ones blessed with a strong quirk. Or cursed.
She brushed her fingers under my eye, a black and red mass of broken blood vessels, and I flinched back. "Ow."
"Your quirk is too unstable, sweetheart." Her eyes, soft heather grey and full of pain, teared up, "I'll talk to him."
"Mom, don..." I gulped. Too late. He was now bearing down on us as mother stood, her smile vanished like fog.
"Toya can't train with you today. He's injured." I admired my mother at that moment. I hardened my eyes and stared at him. I couldn't help the tremble in my fingers.
Enji's hand shot out like it had been fired from a shipboard cannon, "You gonna sub for him?" The material of her chiffon dress pulled, knotted, and smoked in the fist wrapped in fire that had grabbed her. "Let's see you use those ice powers to stop me, woman!" He looked over her shoulder at me, "Would you like to see that, boy? Your mom and dad fighting? Maybe I can teach you a little something."
I saw red, "Let her go, you fat bastard."
He threw her to the side, her slender frame bouncing off the wall to lay slumped on the polished floors. "I'm not sure who the bastard is here," he smiled lazily. There was no stopping it now. Mother had tried, but now she was weeping, her shaking fingers clasped over her ears.
My quirk called to me, the fire hotter than I could remember, and it spilled from my hands and mouth. "I could only dream you weren't my father," I retorted. "Then I wouldn't have to see you beat up kids! Come at me you stinkin-.."
It was no contest, he could take my flames, even burning as hot as they felt to me. They licked the air in tongues of yellow-orange. Some tipped in blue, though I didn't discover the blue flame until later. His fingers closed like steel vices on my shoulders, shaking me roughly. He hauled me, not into our special training dojo, but out into our yard, his flames rolling over his exposed skin like oil on water.
He was going to kill me. I felt it in my bones. But, instead of running, or agreeing to train to get him off my back, I stood as tall as I could. I was a scrawny thing, all of 140 centimeters and just a little over 41 kilograms. I wouldn't last long against this behemoth. I tried my hardest to stay centered, and I lifted shaking arms, flames wreathing up to my elbow.
"Good form," he sneered, "If only you could stop shaking!" He laughed, big booms that made me even crazier with anger.
He blazed like a fallen star. Like the devil himself come to Earth. I blew out a great gout of flame, and he was laughing as he simultaneously dodged the fireball and balled a fist and swung. He connected, hitting me square in the nose, breaking the cartilage, and making my left eye gush blood with it. I couldn't see out of it, and I barely regained my feet before he kicked my right knee, flooding my body with immediate heart-stopping pain as my knee bent the wrong way, dropping me to the ground.
I couldn't stand, he'd broken me with just two hits, but now, I was just working on pure adrenaline. I prayed with every ounce of faith I still had in benevolent spirits. My arms snapped straight as gun barrels as I screamed defiance at him. Blood pooled in my mouth. I couldn't hear for the rushing in my ears, my sight was gone. Washed away in hate and blood. With every drop of spirit still left in my body, I screamed and lit up with blue flame, shooting it at him. Willing it to burn him, to make him leave! Anything! Anything!
I don't know how long it lasted. I only sort of remember him spitting on me, saying that was enough training for one night. I was cold. Cold to my very marrow, and I passed into unconsciousness.
"Oh, no.." Mom's tears splashed on my face, and I woke to her frantic shaking. She shushed my moan harshly, the only time I'd ever heard that tone for her before. "We need to leave. Your Father's chief surgeon has a healing quirk." Her eyes hardened, "I can do this for you."
She gathered me into her arms, streaking her dress with grime and bloody dirt, carrying me away in her first, and to my knowledge last, act of defiance.
Two Days Later…
The smell of antiseptic and cleaning supplies came to me first. Then hearing.
"His father is looking everywhere for him."
Slender fingers rested on my forehead. "I hope he never finds him. Look what he did."
My eyes fluttered open to look into blue eyes that weren't my father's shade, but like the ocean we'd gone to see... what felt like a lifetime ago.
"He's awake!"
"Nemuri..." The red-spectacled girl with deep blue eyes moved away, to be replaced by an elderly woman. Her face was already a maze of wrinkles, and all I could think was I'd never seen a person this old before. "Dearie, do you know what happened? Your name and the date?"
I groaned as my mind reeled back, "I..." I closed my eyes again, "Enji finally killed me."
She laughed, a gentle motherly sound, "Just about, dear, just about. I've healed all your internal injuries, and Nemuri here has sutured and packed everything that could be saved on your skin. I'm sorry that I couldn't do more for you, my dear. I am glad you're awake."
The young woman named Nemuri hovered back into view, "We're getting you away from him, okay? Do you have a name I can use for some new ID chips? You burned your old one out, thankfully." She smiled, and her whole face was happy, "You have a lot of firepower, kid!"
The old lady frowned suddenly, "She's in the underground, and has friends that will see you out of Japan, and be taken care of until you're well enough to take care of yourself. You are free, young man."
My eyes grew hazy, but tears didn't form. I could ask about that later, but for now I thought about her words. What had just happened? I hadn't died yet. Listening to her words, and the shocking numbness I could feel, I knew I had burned. Burned more than I could handle. I'd been... cremated.
"Dabi," I croaked, "My name is Dabi."
AN/ I thought 'Dabi' was just a made up name. Apparently it means 'cremation' in Japanese. I used the national average for 12 year olds in Japan, and shrunk them even further. As always, my partner in fanfic, thank you Mosevic.
