-x- Keigo -x-
Keigo was taking part in therapy and behavioral therapy to erase the values he'd internalized for the last nine years. People weren't tools. They were living, sentient beings that weren't just for him to use, to pick apart and know them inside out. He had to train himself to not be a perfect people pleaser, and understand that he would disappoint people, and that was okay.
But disappointment meant punishing, and it wasn't that simple to just forget everything that had been beaten into him for the sake of his dream. Keigo spent hours in training and therapy, trying to get him back on track, hopefully a factory reset of the way he viewed the world. He still wanted to be a hero, but on his own. Jeanist was just paying for the therapies, far too kind. Keigo was fine if he was being a tool and used, because what he was given was more than enough to be worth it.
The days were busy, and he did things both inside and outside the agency. He wanted a job to earn money while he recuperated, but his reputation and the way he was treated outside, it made sense nobody wanted to hire someone with such bad press. At least currently. Best Jeanist said it would fade eventually. Keigo wished that day could come sooner.
-x-
Keigo was small again, his wings to useless to fly. He was a pre teen, his feathers only just having been able to harden and turn into weapons. He was laying on his back in a dimly lit room, looking up at the dark ceiling. He tried to sit up before he realized he was chained down. He tensed, frozen in fear. When the door opened and the lights came on, they were blinding and Keigo tried to cover his eyes but his hands couldn't reach up that far.
He tried turning over, and managed to go on his side, but couldn't be fully on his stomach. His wings ached while laying on the floor on his back. He also couldn't sit up. A shadow walked over to him, face and appearance hidden from the light streaming behind him, darkening his front. When he arrived right in front of small Keigo, the child saw vibrant blue eyes and white hair. Blood dripped down his face.
Keigo's wings betrayed him, and his longest primaries drifted to the adult Touya's hands. No words were exchanged before Keigo was stabbed, over and over.
He jerked awake, sweating heavily, and threw the blankets off and hurred to the small window. He pulled it open and stuck his face out of it, his tears drying. He hadn't noticed he was crying. After the sweat cooled, he sunk to his knees, hands pressed to the wall. He sniffled, and bowed his head.
Every night - almost every night - he had dreams of being in Touya's shoes, often being tortured by himself. He always woke up when he was being hurt, but the terror his dreamself felt in the moments before were bad enough. He wished he could apologize to Touya in person, or whoever he was now.
But he also knew it would make things worse for him. Keigo was already all over the news, he didn't need to see his abuser in person, too. He left to take a shower and then returned to his room and curled up on the bed under the blankets, his phone alarm primed to wake him for therapy. It was surprisingly easy to talk about himself, but hard changing his view of thinking.
Jeanist told him it would take a while for him to get better, but reminded him of his young age. He'd get better. Keigo wanted to believe that. When he got up, he made himself breakfast in the dormitory kitchen. People usually ate before him since he made a mess of the kitchen and the smell of burnt food permeated the room. And they probably hated him, but he wanted to think it was for his lack of skill when it came to anything food related.
When he managed to fry an egg, it was a great start to the day. He looked over at the girl putting her hero jacket on in the corner of the lounge room. She stood and left, but Keigo noticed she left her phone on the couch. He walked forward, picked it up and called her back. "You left your phone," he said with a friendly smile.
She looked disgusted and snatched the phone out of his loose grip. Keigo felt like the ugliest thing in the world when she turned her back on him and walked away. His smile slipped off his face, and he went to the sink to wash out the pan and inhale the small amount of food before going back to his room and dressing in day clothes, his oversized backpack on his back.
He walked through the lobby, a hoodie on despite how it was hot outside. He didn't care, he just wanted to hide more. He was so ugly and retched, hiding his wings wasn't enough to spare the world from him. After all the hard work to make him look approachable, he was the opposite now. He wasn't pretty, or nice to look at, and all of the cosmetic changes were for nothing.
Honestly, he'd never felt worse than he did now. Even when he was a child, he didn't know better, and he had a small, budding dream to be a hero. He had that future dangled in his face for almost a decade, and to have it snatched away, hurt. Well, he threw it away, he wasn't the victim in what happened.
Looking at the angry protestors on the street for the Commission, he felt sick inside. Was saving only a few better than the Commission doing it's job to keep the equilibrium? Was he too sensitive and made a mistake by blowing everything up in drama? Surely everyone who worked at the HPSC, even low level office workers, all lost their jobs and were hated.
If Keigo was hated, he knew they were as well. Maybe if he was younger he'd be given more slack. People wanted to know about Touya, how he was, if he'd make a comment, but only Endeavor knew of his real name. The press had no idea and would not know. Touya could be out of the country by now. Maybe Nagant snuck him onto a plane.
It was good Keigo didn't know where he or she went because he could be honest when he said he had no clue. He couldn't be pressured to say anything, even though he'd been taught how to resist torture well enough. He wouldn't have cried like Touya had. He wrapped his arms around himself, something that would have shamed him before. But right now, it felt nice. He didn't have wings on to do it for him, after all.
When was the last time he'd ever been hugged? Had he ever? His handler always scratched through his hair, something birds liked. The only bird thing about him that she didn't degrade and make him hate. Even now, he made sure not a single sound came out of him that wasn't human. He was already a bad apple, he didn't need to be a weird one, too.
He was walking back from therapy when a car pulled up next to him. He looked up, his hood down, and saw Endeavor come out of the black, sleek car. Keigo stopped walking, surprise openly on his face. "Endeavor-san," he said in awkward greeting. He felt wrong to be in front of the father of the boy Keigo had hurt. Had stabbed over and over. Dug his blade into the kid's eye socket even when he didn't know he'd be able to heal. So, he hadn't looked forward to ever being around Endeavor again.
His idol hated him. And Keigo admiring him had been what got him taken in by the Commission. Not that he blamed the guy, he hadn't known the homeless kid, Takami Keigo. Though, he was claiming that name once again. He'd probably keep his hero name a bird reference. Maybe not Hawks, but Red Tail. His quirk was a red tailed hawk after all.
"I want you to help me find Touya. He's been missing over two weeks, now."
"Oh - I really don't have any information. It would be best to try and sort through the Commission stuff," Keigo said, gesturing with his fingers, nervous. He didn't want to sell out Nagant when she was free. Only she would know, and Keigo doubted she'd tell anyone.
"I've tried but the government has locked it. Even as I am the father and the number two. You're the only one who knows anything and isn't in jail," Endeavor said.
Keigo was torn. On one hand, Touya could be in danger, he could be hurt. But on the other, he had free will to contact Endeavor and he didn't. What did that say about him? Keigo didn't want to assume anything, but perhaps Touya had run away. For a reason. And he hid his power, for a reason. It was Touya's choice to come back, even if he was still a minor.
Should he help this man find his son, who lied to him his whole life about who he was? Keigo wouldn't be surprised if he had a surplus of quirks, and it would made finding him quite challenging. Especially if he could disguise himself. If he could, they're probably never find him. But Keigo didn't have enough information to give that would compromise Touya's location.
He could play along so he didn't get on the bad side of Endeavor. If he hated Keigo, and claimed he didn't help find the son he'd harmed, he might never recover. This was for his own good since he'd be useless in any investigation. This might further his career. As long as he didn't actually need to see Touya, didn't actually sell him out, then this was a good idea.
"Alright, I'll try and help all I can. It's not much." Endeavor nodded gruffly.
'We're going to my agency." Keigo nodded, and they went back into the car, Endeavor sitting in the front seat. The public didn't know who Touya was, or who his father was, so the number two wouldn't be seen as heartless for working with his son's torturer. Keigo watched out the window as the scenery passed. Flying himself there would have been so much faster. Until he exposed it all, he'd rarely driven in a car once he could finally fly.
When they got to his agency, it seemed like there was an awful lot of space wasted. It was nicer than the HPSC building layout, but Jeanist's agency was much more comfortable looking. He followed the number two to his office, and was gestured to sit down. Keigo was short, only 5'6, and his wings were in his backpack that he clutched to his chest.
"I have access to security cameras of the Commission building. I got there quickly as I was one of those to raid it, but much of the information had already been removed, so I didn't have confirmation the prisoner was Touya. It showed you and someone carry him out of the building and into a car.
"Who was in the car?" Endeavor asked in a deep, commanding voice. Keigo was uncomfortable. At least the guy didn't hate him for what he did. Well, he was just using Keigo for any information he may have. As a newbie hero on hiatus, he was no use to Endeavor as he was now as a hero. Only a witness.
He didn't respond for a long moment, looking at his hands. "Was it someone with the wellbeing of him in mind?" Keigo nodded, and said he'd asked them to save him, but wasn't told where the person had taken him. "I take it you aren't going to tell me the name of the person that removed Touya from that place?"
"I - I want them to live in peace because they were just another victim like I was. I don't want them in the news as well."
"So you've become a martyr." Keigo nodded, and Endeavor sighed. "Then how will we find my son if you won't tell me how to do so?" he asked. Keigo kept a straight face on despite how awkward it was. Endeavor looked at him, expecting an answer. "Are you good at tracking? With your wings?"
Shit. "I don't have much practice. And I don't know where I'd look for him. He could be anywhere, he could even be out of the country by now. My coworker would have been very thorough in getting him away."
"The Commission is gone, so why hasn't he come back?" Endeavor asked angrily, frustrated. "And why did he lie to us?" he grumbled, even angrier now. Keigo wasn't about to step into family drama if he could manage it. He was already involved in too much drama. He'd really rather not add to it.
Keigo said, "Maybe he needs time to heal. Maybe he thinks that you would think he's weak, so he doesn't want to go home." He was trying to pacify him, so the hero wouldn't get too upset.
"Touya was never weak. He was just bad at his quirk." Keigo still retained his interpersonal skills, and Endeavor was a very poor liar. He thought Touya was weak. How had he hidden his regeneration form him? Or did Endeavor just not notice? Did Touya never get hurt, even after over a decade since his quirk manifested?
"Does anyone in your family have that quirk?" Keigo asked in a professional voice.
"No. Our family lines are only fire and ice. My other children only have quirks inherited from us."
"Why did he go missing? Was he kidnapped from your home?" he was filing away all the information in his head. Watching the way Endeavor spoke, his facial expressions, which he couldn't seem to keep hidden, his anger and frustration noticeable even to the most clueless of people.
"Things were missing from his room and he was gone during the night."
"Oh, so he ran away."
"He did not run away!" Oh, that hit a nerve. Keigo stayed calm, and clutched his backpack closer with tight, ungloved fingers. He let his feathers return to his back after unzipping the bag. "He had no reason to run away, someone took him!" Keigo was sad at what he was seeing. Endeavor was kind of mean. Yes, he was speaking of his missing son to the one who'd hurt him, and was withholding information. But he seemed like a right asshole.
"Have you checked security cameras around your city? To see how far he got before he was captured by the Commission? Maybe it will tell you where he was heading, and if it was actually running away, or just going on a night walk that ended badly. There's also the possibility that he's forgotten everything out of the trauma. He's blocked things out because of it. So, even if he isn't actively coming home, it doesn't mean it's because he doesn't want to," Keigo said, trying to calm the man.
"I put up a missing persons case. He's been on the news, surely he knows what he looks like," Endeavor said, but he wasn't sounding as angry, as aggressive and defensive. Keigo didn't know what else to say, and shrugged.
"Maybe he's avoiding the news because I'm all over it," the winged teen said. "Maybe he doesn't realize you're looking for him. He's been through something traumatic, he may see himself as not worthy of being cared for by others. Which would be the worst case. I just hope he found someone to help him out-"
"It should have been my family that helped him," Endeavor growled. "His family." He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Do you have any usable information you can give me?" He sounded tired, and he probably was.
"Inform the people who are now above the Commission that Touya was - is - your son, and that you have a right to find out what happened to him. Maybe it will leave some breadcrumbs to follow," Keigo said. "Other than that, there's nothing more I can do. If he was taken by flight out of the country, you can check the logs of who got the tickets. This might take quite some time and effort to trace him if he doesn't come back by his own choice."
Keigo stood up, and zipped up his backpack, which now only held his phone, wallet and a map. Thank god he didn't need a ride back, it would have been awkward even if Endeavor wasn't there, too. "Hawks. I am angry that you hurt Touya, but I am not a fool and know the reason why," Endeavor said from his desk. "I hope you do better in the future."
Wide, golden eyes looked down at the floor. "Thank you, Endeavor-san," he said quietly, and walked out. Everyone in the office were wary of him, avoiding or looking away. He felt like a cancer, but at least two of the top heroes supported him getting back on his feet. He left and flew back to Best Jeanist's agency.
He'd always dreamed of meeting Endeavor and having him tell him he was a good hero. Instead, he tortured his son and refused to give him the information to find him. At least he was still praised in some microscopic way. Keigo was just a teenager and would probably never be more than a fucked up person who had a lot of problems.
Was he looked down on by others for being too loyal, or not at all from setting his former employers/guardian's up to fail? Would any agency want someone like him? He hadn't been invited to work at Jeanist's agency, only to fix himself while using their building as a shelter. Keigo wouldn't be wanted and he'd likely not have his own agency anytime soon, let alone have people want to work with him.
He looked down at his hands, as always, covered in blood.
-x- Dabi -x-
"Be careful, alright?" Mei said, standing on the dock while Dabi took off his shirt.
"I could fight off sharks and I can breathe under water, I won't drown," Dabi said in an unintentionally clipped voice. The foster mom gave him a look. "Fine, I'll be careful," he grumbled. His arms and head were with scars, as well as his lower calves, but he decided not to put any in unnecessary places, so his chest and back were untouched.
Dabi looked around to make sure there were no bird around to make him crash. This was a secluded beach and it was far too early for swimmers to come out. Dabi backed up a few paces before he went sprinting down the dock and jumped off, the wings ripping out his back painlessly and him forcibly changing the density of his bones to support himself. He beat the leathery wings twice and belly flopped.
He popped his head out of the water with a huff, and climbed back onto the dock. Mei started to laugh, and Dabi couldn't help but laugh, too. "Good first try!" she called, sounding sincere, even though she was laughing. Rei would have fussed over his safety if she was having a good parenting day. Dabi tried again, and again, and again.
They ate lunch that both prepared on the dock and then Dabi wet back to practicing, and finally was able to get up. He screamed while he was flying, but didn't get too high before he panicked and did a disgraceful belly flop again. He decided to try and do the opposite, and turn into something underwater.
While turning into a fish would be cool, Dabi wasn't willing to risk hurting himself by rearranging his insides. A pre-made quirk to breathe underwater was enough. He thought of the adventure books he'd been allowed to read at his new home, and their subsequent movies, and turned into a water dragon and swam away from the beach.
It was so cool! He popped his head out after turning back. "I'm okay!" he shouted, seeing Mei standing at the end of the dock. He swam back and climbed out. He flopped onto his back, panting. He was smiling, blue eyes bright. He'd never been able to actually try with his quirk. It had always been something to hide away. To pretend and deny.
He wiped his eyes, even if the tears would have mixed with the already salty water on his face. "Did you have a good time?"
"Yeah. I turned into a water dragon, it was super cool!"
"What did it look like?" And Dabi told her all about his personal design. She… she sounded interested. It was a shock, and when he stopped speaking, it was like she could read his mind, and didn't say anything about it. "Want to go get some ice cream before going to the store?" Dabi nodded, now completely silent. "You can practice flying again later."
"Yeah," the teen said softly. They went to the car, and he grumbled about wanting to be able to get around other ways. "Once I can fly, I don't want to get in a car again." He buckled himself in, pouty that he was going to feel sick. The house wasn't close to the beach, so it was over an hour's drive, not counting going and picking up groceries when they were back in the city.
Dabi's face was green, but he didn't vomit. He would never throw up from his motion sickness again. He wrapped his arms around himself, remembering when he'd thrown up in the car once on a long trip to Enji's parent's house. It had been all over the back seat's floors. It smelled and his father yelled at him about it the whole way. The windows were rolled down to air out the smell, but the sounds of the wind on the freeway were giving him a headache.
Then his father had the gall to ask why he was in such a bad mood when they left the car and someone came to clean it for him. Rei had said and done nothing about him getting sick and then berated and shamed. He went to his bedroom, not talking to anyone. Unlike Natsuo and Fuyumi, the kids who lived here also truly valued personal space and they could all go a whole day without seeing one another, holed up in their rooms, safe in their own space.
Mei and Asahi weren't pushy in their parenting, but they didn't just leave them to parent themselves. Dabi hoped that Rei, realizing Dabi wasn't coming back, would pull her head out of her ass and flee with the kids, at least those unwanted, Fuyumi and Natsuo. Enji had too many reasons to keep Shoto if there was a divorce.
Playing Animal Crossing, Dabi wondered if they missed him. Natsuo's birthday was in a few weeks. He likely wouldn't get told happy birthday from anyone but Fuyumi and the friends he had, since he was never abused, and therefor never had any sort of proof if he were to report to his teachers. Both he and Fuyumi got to go to school.
Dabi wasn't as lucky. He was home schooled, and because of that he was the one to take care of Natsuo when he was a baby and Rei was in no shape, or when she was pregnant with Shoto and her body was miserable during those nine months. He'd only ever gone to school for first and second grade.
Touya was miserable but Dabi wasn't. He felt free. He was fucked in the head after Hawks carved him up and the people he couldn't put faces to beat him up as well. Hawks wasn't the only one who hurt him, he was just the one who had a face Dabi could hate. So, things weren't perfect, and he was skittish when out in public, scared he'd be seen, but he was more happy than he had been in a long time.
After playing his game for a few hours in peaceful silence, he started to draw. Rei was an artist before she had been reduced to a baby pumping slave, but the artist in her or that may have been hiding in the kids were never allowed to come out. Art wasn't respectable enough for Enji's taste.
He turned the TV on and put on a channel that played cartoons, the channel that was on every Sunday for the kids. They had only been able to watch it on Sundays. Dabi stared at it unseeingly for a moment before there was a knock on the door. "Come in," he said. Sheri peeked in, her one eye scoping him out, what he was doing. "What is it?"
"I can't get my necklace on," she said, holding up a beaded necklace she'd clearly just made. He made a gesture for her to come over, the nine year old handing him the necklace so he could clip it on from behind. "Thank you."
"Yeah." Sheri was the second oldest of them. Hikari was five and Rika was seven.
"Sheri, do you think it's wrong I abandoned my brothers and sister?" Dabi asked, not really understanding why he said anything. But he didn't take it back. "I wasn't the only one being treated badly."
"I think they must be sad. You ran away but then were kidnapped and tortured. They have to know it was you on that video." Dabi scowled at his hands. "I think it's okay for you to be away from them. Sometimes… you need to look after yourself first." She sounded distant. He wasn't about to ask her why. But she explained anyways. "My mom lit our house on fire. I didn't even try to save my siblings. I ran from the house, I was closest to the exit. They all died. Because of me."
"It's not the same. I willingly decided to leave and never say goodbye. You were panicked, saving your own skin is an instinct," Dabi said, not wanting someone her age to be burdened with this guilt. "Did you have a good relationship with your siblings?" She shook her head, and sat down in the desk chair. He hoped she'd talk to him about it. Maybe he could confide in her. He told all his feelings to his brother, an eight year old.
"My little brother and sister were better kids than me. My mom said it all the time. She would rip out chunks of my hair when I did something wrong, and I was left to try and take care of her accessory babies. I hated them." She had a surprisingly disgusted face on, just thinking of her siblings. The fact Dabi had when he thought about both of his parents. "Even after all I did for them, they lied about things I did.
"My mom gouged my eye out with a jagged ice cream scooper because of something they said." Dabi bit his lip. He knew what it felt like to have his eye stabbed, but hers didn't heal over. "I wasn't that sad when they died, I had just wished my mom was in there with them. Only Mei knows about my feelings on this."
Dabi said, "Thanks for telling me," in a soft voice. Poor Sheri. She was bitter like Dabi was. So, so bitter at his old family. But his biological siblings were alive and still in harm's way. He didn't feel he had enough power to do anything, though. He was undercover, hiding his identity from the world. Including his father, who would return him to that prison of a home. But now that Dabi got a taste of freedom, he wasn't planning on giving it up.
Even if he went homeless and lived his life as a forest animal, he wouldn't be caged ever again. Sheri left the room so Dabi could think. He dug his toes into the carpet, and wondered what he should do. Bury the guilt and be happy, or do something about it? Even a little act of kindness… maybe he could do something.
He practiced flying every day over the beach, Mei or Asahi taking him there in the mornings. Hikari and Rika came one day, playing in the waves. Dabi didn't need complete supervision from his foster parents, who claimed to trust he wasn't going to drown, so they were able to watch the girls while Dabi worked at the pier. It was more secluded to not be seen as much, so people weren't watching once it wasn't so early anymore. Sheri was at a doctor's to try and improve her scars and sicknesses from how she wasn't taken care of all her life.
They were about to go home when Dabi finally was airborne after a week of trying. As soon as he was actually up and at a good elevation, his whole body relaxed and it felt as easy as anything. His foster family were cheering for him. His wings were dark purple like the burn scars he voluntarily put on his face. Maybe he looked like a creepy bat from below. Anything better than being confused with Hawks.
The fucker was still in his goddamn nightmares. Just one night, Dabi wished he could dream of himself using his father's precious fire to burn those feathers off.
-x-
"This is a bad idea," Sheri said, standing in Dabi's room, holding her hands nervously. "I get why you want to, but we can just mail it."
"They'll track it back. Cameras, eye witnesses to follow the trail back home. I'm just going to drop it in the backyard and fly back. I'll only be gone a little bit. I'll call when I'm on my way back." He had black clothes on. He planned on turning invisible once he got to the house so nobody could see him. There were cameras around the property. The only way Dab had gotten away the first time was turning invisible.
His quirks were infinitely harder to control then compared to now, where they were as easy as breathing once he understood. He had real encouragement, and he wasn't going to jeopardize this life by sending mail to his old home. Sheri didn't protest further, and Dabi climbed out his window and slung the backpack on. It had his phone, wallet with his new ID as Kaneko Dabi, and the gift he had wrapped in Natsuo's favorite wrapping paper.
The gift was a small bag of caramel chocolates and a collector's edition of his favorite manga volume. It was all in one box, packing paper around it. Dabi was smart and had used gloves to handle the box and its contents. He had no idea the lengths Enji would go to find his lying child. He flew back to his old home, blending into the night sky.
He sighed, loving the feeling of flying. It was so easy, as easy as breathing. And the cold didn't bother him, his first quirks he ever had were fire and ice. Though he was afraid to tell about the ice, and then when he felt more coming, it just got more and more scary to think about telling anyone. Which was why he was here, now.
It had never felt safe in that house, to be himself. He had to try to be perfect, the perfect successor. An he failed. But he was learning that it was okay to fail. He hoped Natsuo and Fuyumi could find somewhere else, too, but that wasn't on him. He wasn't going to parent anyone ever again. Mei said sometimes leaving people behind is what heals the soul.
Dabi couldn't ignore his internalized guilt, so he intended to bring them presents for their birthdays so they know he isn't dead and that he still thinks about them. When he got to Mustafu, he turned invisible and dove, transforming into a large bird with the gift before he dumped it on the back pato.
He flew away after that, not bothering to see if anyone came to get it. His heart was pounding, and he flew as fast away as he could. It was a long flight, so he stopped for a snack at a gas station a few towns away and bought some beef jerky. He called Sheri, who said he hadn't been found out, but to hurry up.
"Right. I'll be there soon," he said, tearing apart the last strip of beef jerky. He knew he looked very creepy, and when a little boy was staring at him like he was a monster, Dabi gave him a crazed grin and it sent him running away in tears. Dabi hurried away before an angry parent could chastise him.
When he got back home, he neatly landed on the carpet and retracted his wings, the bone disappearing, the skin and muscle following closely behind. "How'd it go?"
"Fine. Wasn't seen. Kind of wish I'd been extra and thrown the package through a closed window or something," Dabi replied. Sheri perked up a bit.
"Is there a sky light?"
"Yeah, above the stairs."
"If you're going to keep bringing them presents, you should make it your trademark: if they hear a shattered window, it's you." Dabi snickered. It was a good idea. He'd never been brave enough for property damage, even on accident. Once when he broke a frying pan, he had froze and just panicked that he was going to be punished for making a mistake.
He'd cleaned up the mess himself and nobody knew. Nobody noticed, but that was better than being punished. "Sounds like a plan. Kind of wish I could stay to see his reaction, but I'd get caught and they'd prolly all start crying. By my handwriting they know I'm alive and all. And that I knew Natsuo's favorite manga."
"...What is it?"
"Gurren Lagann. I guess it's a mecha manga, bis-ass robots and all," Dabi said, and shooed her out so he could change into his not-undercover clothes. Nobody knew but Sheri and she was good at keeping secrets, so this was between them. That night he went to sleep happy. He hoped Natsuo's birthday was made a bit better by it.
-x-
"Can you turn into a reindeer, Dabi?" Hikari asked from below. Dabi was laying on the roof outside his window while the others played outside. He looked up from his book. He had a ton of books, now. A whole bookshelf of things he wanted. He didn't have them organized in any sort of way. They were just shoved on the shelf. His room was cluttered and unorganized. His bed was never made. It was his room and he could do what he wanted unless it affected the others in the house. Like a bad smell or attracting bugs.
He was slowly getting used to not having a collar and leash around his neck. He was allowed to go out around the block on his own, but not at night. He was able to go to other places with one of the adults. It was mostly just being careful of his safety, but he hadn't been discovered yet by anyone. It had been four days since he made his little trip.
If Enji knew, he'd be there instantly, regardless of any complications or legal issues. He'd storm into this house full of innocent people and grab him by the neck and drag him home. If he was ever found out, though, it was time to be on his own. He'd fly - or swim - out of the country and start a new life with a new face and body.
"A reindeer? It's not even winter time," Dabi called back, his sunglasses on to block the sun shining directly on him from above.
"Pleeeeese?" the masked girl said. Dabi still had no idea what was under the mask, only Mei and Asahi knew. Dabi sighed.
"Can I do it in a little while?"
"Yeah! I just wanna see a reindeer," she said brightly, and then went back to playing in the sand pit. There was a bunch of cat retardant around the little lot of sand so no felines dropped by to shit in the play area. Five seconds later. "Can you do it now?"
Dabi groaned, but agreed. He was criticized because he wasn't the "right kind" of reindeer. Dabi had no idea who "Sven" was but he didn't much care until that brought them to the topic of just what boundaries he could push with his transformation. If he could become cartoonish creatures.
He did try, from a bunch of Disney movies, but attempting to look like a cartoon just gave him headaches. The business of entertaining children with his quirk for a living was, thankfully, promptly tossed out the window. He got bored and returned to reading on the roof.
-x- Keigo -x-
"You're saying Touya came home?" Keigo asked in the phone on his bed, eyes blurry from just waking to his ringtone. It was Endeavor, and he'd instantly been scared he'd done something wrong or charges were finally being put on him. But instead Endeavor asked him about Touya's quirks again.
Someone - who they thought was Touya - dropped off a birthday present for the younger brother. There was no person detected anywhere, and Keigo was beyond positive that Touya had more than one or more than a few quirks up his sleeve. Perhaps he turned invisible.
But besides learning Touya was alive and had free will, this also showed them that Touya could come back. He just didn't want to. Keigo assumed it infuriated Endeavor and he wasn't sure why the kid would be so dumb, unless he really cared about his siblings. "With all due respect, why are you calling me? I told you everything I know," he yawned.
"Because you have a hero license and I want your help on this personal case."
While Keigo would have once dreamed up being asked to work on a case with his idol, he had to decline. He didn't want to be in Touya's life in any way. He deserved to have to never see Keigo in person again. He deserved to not have the person that hurt him coming after him, even at the request of his father. Who didn't seem ideal based on the fact Touya was able to go home but not stay there.
He was a sneaky motherfucker, though, if he managed to get onto the property to drop something off and not be seen by anyone, in person or camera. So Keigo had many reasons, both for Touya's sake and also his own. He wasn't ready to be a hero again, he was still being manipulative when talking to people and people just in general did not forgive him yet.
"I have to say no, Endeavor-san."
"What?" He seemed genuinely shocked that Keigo would say no.
"I have always wanted to work on a case with a pro, but this just isn't the right case for me. Im not at… the right place in my life and career to help with the number two, and frankly Touya deserves to never have to see me again. I don't think he'd be happy with his abuser trying to find him when he seems like he doesn't want to be."
Silence in the other end, but the call was still going. "I see. Fine, then. I will find my son on my own."
"I wish you luck," Keigo said, and the call ended. He put the phone down by his head, blonde hair a mess, and looked out the window across the room. Even if he did want to do a case with Endeavor, he didn't want it to be missing persons. He would want a big one. But he was seventeen. Not even a legal adult. His hero license and history were probably the only reason he wasn't put into foster care.
He wished he could ask Nagant about Touya, just to make sure she put him somewhere good, but he hadn't heard from her or anything about her in the news. The HPSC was fully reformed, even though trust in them was small and still broken from the moral betrayal of the former hero association leaders. The public had hope things would change with a different kind of leadership.
His handler was in jail, and that invoked an unwanted feeling like he'd failed as a person by letting her be in jail. That he could have saved her, when in reality, it was only on him that they were all found out and punished. He sighed, and stood up to get ready for the day. He showered, preened his wings and attempted to cook, all while the other interns his age or younger ignored him.
Ever since he was young, he felt isolated in life. Most of it was on purpose, for other's desires. But right now, he felt so lonely, and not because someone else made it that way, but because he was just such a shitty person that nobody wanted to be around him. He was a monster, pretty on the outside, maybe, but an ugly traitor on the inside.
He wore a look of deep regret and sadness on his face whenever he wasn't out in public. He wished he could have a friend, someone who forgave him for what he tried to fix. He was the one that had Touya taken away, and he hadn't been the one to order the kidnapping or torture. It didn't absolve him of what he'd done, but he wished people could see it that way.
When heroes killed civilians or villains in a situation where it was out of control hero work, they were almost all forgiven fairly quickly. Keigo was not a hero for long at all. He did not have years of public experience on his back to identify him in a good way, he had no allies, and he admitted to doing it himself. They had to give him credit for being honest, hiding nothing.
Maybe this was a sign. That the world didn't want him, didn't welcome him as a hero. All the work put into him and he threw it away. But he just couldn't let that kid suffer for no good reason. He knew his actions helped a lot of kids from turning into him but he also cost families their jobs. Everyone that worked there was laid off.
He had no public social media, or private, so he didn't get hateful messages or death threats, but it weighed on him heavily. Some of the people he got fired were to be blacklisted from the hero profession and government profession. He was only glad things could change now.
Best to start looking for a job, a normal job, where he could learn how to interact with real people. He flew far from the agency, far and wide looking for something- somewhere to accept him. He knew he'd be perfect at interviews but also knew he would look very fake. He had to have a balance between friendly and overboard and fake.
Since he'd never even pondered the feeling of freedom, this wasn't a disappointment to him. It sucked, but he hadn't expected anything else. He stopped and got a smoothie on his way away, and stood in line where he saw a red headed girl with an eye patch looking at him in abject horror. He gave her a tentative smile and wave.
"We have to leave! Get Dabi!" she shout-whispered. Keigo was a nosy bastard, and sent a feather after her. "Mei-san, Hawks is here, we should go."
"Oh, okay," a woman's voice said. "Dabi." A knock on a door.
"Stop punching the door already! The soap dispenser is broken, I'm not shitting!" Dabi said angrily. When the door opened, Keigo heard boot scuffing. "What, you're all beating at the door and none of you have to go."
"Well, we think we should leave," Mei said.
"...Whyyy?" Dabi asked. Keigo felt so relieved that he wasn't crying, and he didn't sound scared or in pain.
"Hawks is here. Shh, it's okay, that's why we need to leave." Keigo grit his teeth as his face crumpled. He clenched the wad of cash in his hand, and removed his feather from spying on them. He saw them out of the corner of his eye, and Dabi had a jacket over his head to hide him. There were three little girls, the one missing an eye was holding Dabi's hand in hers while they hurried out. Keigo wanted to tell him he was so, so, sorry for everything. But he didn't.
Keigo tortured Touya, and Dabi was terrified of him. He saw them get in the car, and the girl with one eye looked straight at him and flipped him the bird before the car left. Keigo ordered his drink on autoplot, not making an expression while Dabi's drink was called but nobody came for it.
That set the tone for a shitty day. But he had to persevere. He just didn't know why anymore. Parents with their kids that saw him moved their children away. Teenagers jeered at him and adults looked at him with disapproval. For the first time ever, he wished he had a quirk that didn't leave him so fucking recognizable.
The only good thing about the day was finding that Touya was safe. His current name was Dabi, and Keigo assumed that was a foster family he was with. At least he had some support there, the one eyed girl holding his hand and then looking out for him. He didn't know what Touya looked like now, he probably dyed or cut his hair.
Keigo now held a massive clue in knowing where Touya had gone. But he didn't seem abused, he wasn't chained up in some basement, and he was able to somehow go all the way back to Mustafu when where he was was nowhere close. A quirk, then. No other explanation in Keigo's eyes. No, Dabi was someplace better. He hoped.
It was not Keigo's decision in what Dabi did in his life, and he would not tell Endeavor where he was and who he was with. Keigo was sure that Endeavor was a bad father by his temperament and the red flag his kid ran away and then once released never returned. Keigo wouldn't say a thing about it to anyone. He would only be satisfied that Nagant got him someplace successfully.
Dabi had gasped and panicked when hearing one of his many abusers was near, and Keigo felt so awful for that. How many people who were dead would have had Keigo in their nightmares if they were still alive? He glanced at his fingers, the hard, black tips shaved down, and his sharp teeth filed down. He was modified outwardly to not be a menace, but he behaved like one behind closed doors.
He wished he had a family to support him. He felt he had nobody and even talking to the counselor was sometimes deeply, deeply uncomfortable.
While she was nice enough, Keigo still felt like he was doing something wrong, giving away "company" secrets. Though there were very public testimonies. Keigo was kept out of it due to being a minor and he was a victim as well. Of course they slandered Keigo, but he hadn't watched those clips, and more outrage was poured on the flames Keigo started. All from the match of guilt and shame.
"Hey, kid. Hawks, or whatever your name is," an old man asked from a fruit stand. Keigo looked up. "I got a job for you. Should be easy." Keigo perked up. "Delivering newspapers. Some folk still read the papers. Follow me." He didn't sound like he hated Keigo, so he followed.
"Allow me to carry your groceries." The man smiled and gave him the bags. Keigo decided to just carry them and not show off his quirk. "So, what is the proposition, sir?" he asked brightly. Somebody spoke to him! When they didn't need to. It was so foreign and the relief he had of someone's attention was like a tidal wave.
"I run a delivery service. My quirk is helpful, but I'm old, boy, and I can't use it as well as I used to. You're fast and precise, right?" Keigo nodded. "Should be real easy for you to deliver to places. That way, you're doing some good without needing to see the fact that the people you're delivering to aren't all that fond of you."
"Oh. Okay!"
"Doing small work to help the community will also up your personal image. You could also be used for construction work. Don't think too hard about what ya can do. You can fly, and your feathers can do what you want them to. That opens ya to a lot of different types of work." Keigo's gold eyes sparkled as he hung on to every word. "Don't let today's woes get you too down. You're young, hopefully you can bounce back. But that won't happen if you're only seen walkin' around all depressed." They were at his car, and Keigo loaded the bags in the backseat. "Gimme're phone number so I can call you tomorrow with work." Keigo gave him his personal number and bowed.
"Thank you!"
"You're welcome. Talk ta ya tomorrow, kid." And he drove away. Keigo beamed and jumped happily before flying back to the agency. On his way he realized he didn't have anyone to talk to about it. Well, he could just be happy himself. Maybe he could make friends - coworkers! All of his hero colleagues (most that didn't welcome him due to his young age) weren't interested in being friendly. Endeavor and Jeaniest were the only ones, and he burnt the bridge with the number two.
Keigo now knew more than anyone besides Nagant where Todoroki Touya was. Well, Keigo would avoid north eastern Japan from now on. He spent the rest of the daylight flying before going to his daily therapy and then working out in the agency gym. He worked out in the corner, and had his own little set up of weights and just faced away from everyone else.
The next day he had a meet up with Soho, the guys name, it was at a small shop, with a ton of crates of newspaper. He glanced at them, glad he wasn't on the front page. The seventeen year old was bouncing on his toes. "Don't look so excited, you're only dropping off newspapers for less than minimum wage."
"That's okay! This is my first real job."
"Then I expect ya to put your back into it." Keigo nodded sharply. "Here's a map of drop offs. Getting the addresses is the more difficult part." A young woman entered, she had wings, too! But she looked at him in disdain, so Keigo looked away. "Keep working at it," Soho said. "You're only a lost cause if you give up on yourself. Now, get going."
Keigo nodded, and put the coordinates into his phone, leaving the map behind. He wished he still had his support items, as he only had wide sunglasses instead of a visor. His hero uniform was gone as well. Without a costume or career, he was just a kid with a neat quirk. He followed the directions he had on his phone and dropped all of the packets at the door, but then got distracted by a car crash. He couldn't help but go over. "Is everyone okay?" he asked, hair a mess and civilian clothes ruffled.
"All good here," a man with a growing bruise on his shoulder said. A bit too cheerful. Keigo didn't have his hero license on him right now. He looked and saw the cars blocking traffic. He offered to move them. "That would be helpful." So Keigo walked forward and had his feathers drag the cars out of the side of the road. It left him panting a bit, and he wiped the sweat off his brow and smiled.
"Hope everything works out for you!" he said, and flew away to pick up more newspapers. It seemed only the owner welcomed him. He was the only one who smiled at or treated him well. If he'd stayed under the Commission, Keigo wondered if he'd aged privileged and rich. If so, he wouldn't have this.
He wasn't being thanked or appreciated for being heroic. Soho only smiled at him because he was doing a good job. When had anyone in authority in his life ever just told him "You did a good job today". Just by this, Keigo knew he'd always treasure this teeny tiny experience.
"I'll come back tomorrow, too! If you need. If I'd be helpful."
"Sure thing. But don't go and damage yourself. No job is worth being chronically in pain over." It felt like Soho was trying to teach him lessons, and everyone knew about Keigo's mess of a childhood, so maybe he was trying to… instill good lessons in the still very impressionable Keigo. If so, he was invaluable and going directly against everything his handler had ever told him.
He definitely liked Soho's words more.