-x- Keigo -x-

"Hey, you're a good faker, right?" Keigo's client said, sweating profusely from fighting. "I don't mean any offense! But you were in that hero program as a spy, so you have to be good at fakery." Keigo had no idea where this was going, but his ability to lie was public knowledge, as he'd admitted he was trained to be that way.

So he said, "Yes… that's true."

"You should audition for acting somewhere." Keigo's fluffy brows rose, not expecting this. "You're attractive, you're fit, and you can act well. You'd be a goldmine for plenty of productions. Besides, it might be fun. To pretend to have a different life!" She dug around in her bag, and pulled out a card. "I'm involved in the film industry, and I think you could fit in a role."

"I doubt I would bring good press."

"Oh, high end movies don't give a rat's ass. You didn't murder that boy. Everyone knows he's fine from the Endeavor case stating he was," she said. The card was her name, Goya Aya, talent manager. "If you'd like I could help."

"Why?" Keigo asked curiously.

The woman smiled. "What you taught me saved my husband's life." He was surprised again. "Like you taught me, I barely needed to move to defend us. My husband is disabled, and we were held at gun point. We aren't poor by any means. I was able to get the gun from him thanks to you."

Keigo beamed. "I'm so glad that helped! And I'm happy you and your husband are safe."

"Not just safe, I felt invincible! And my whole family are quite impressed," she said proudly. It was nice, and Keigo was proud of her, too. There had been a handful of people who had put his training into practice and he was happy every time that they were able to protect themselves or others with what he said. "If I put in a good word for you, maybe you'll get in, and in a small role you could still do personal training."

It did sound like fun to at least try. If he sucked, then he wasn't made for acting. But now that idea was planted in his head and it sounded really interesting. He wasn't going to delude himself into thinking he could make it big, but it sounded like a bucket list kind of experience. He took her card, and asked, "Is there a specific movie or production?"

"It's an adaptation of a book! A small production but promising." Keigo agreed, and she gave him the address. He had the next day off, so why not go with her? He would meet her there, really not a fan of cars. When she left, Keigo felt excitement. Life had been kind of stagnant for a few months. He did enjoy his job, but it was a bit boring. Still satisfying since he was helping people, and was the reason Aya and here husband were safe.

When he told Rumi, she was excited for him, and made him do acting impressions with her. "Laugh!" He did. "Now cry! Like, cry cry. You're mother just died cry!" Keigo burst into tears and curled in on himself. "Now pretend to die! You were just stabbed." So he did, and it devolved into a game of charades instead of anything else.

They laughed loudly about it, and Rumi jumped in. She was good at acting angry and threatening, but every time she tried to cry, it just made her laugh instead.

In the morning, she made him dress nicely. As in not his quirky thrift shop clothes. Okay, not his obviously thrifted clothes. Every article of clothing he had had been used, but he did have nice simple ones. "Good luck, Boo!" his best friend said. Once Keigo really started looking for a friend like Dabi told him to, he realized the goldmine of friendship and fun that was Usagiyama Rumi.

He flew to the place, and paced back and forth a bit before Aya arrived in her car and parked in a designated spot. "Takami, I'm glad you came!"

"I said I would." He hid his nerves. This wasn't a big deal, it was just trying a new experience. They headed inside the building, Keigo's hands in his pockets. He had showered that morning and made sure to make himself look as presentable as possible. He naturally looked good - okay, it wasn't natural. He had a lot of modifications. All his teeth had been pulled out when they were deemed too damaged from his childhood, since he hadn't had access to dental care and lost some teeth in beatings. He had a nose job at ten years old because there was barely a bump on the bridge of his nose.

Nobody else knew about the modifications, as Keigo hadn't disclosed that part. He only talked about his talons and tail feathers removed.

When they got inside, Aya lead him down a few halls that he memorized, saying hello to many people on their way. She opened double doors on the second floor, and they were standing in what was clearly an audition room. There was a table with a few people, papers in front of them, and a small stage by the windows.

Keigo had absolutely no idea what he was auditioning for, but Rumi said that was the fun part. He hoped he wasn't auditioning for a murderer or something. That would be in extremely bad taste. "Tatsuma, Aigo, Michi, this is Takami Keigo." Keigo lifted a hand in greeting.

"We know who he is." But it wasn't said in a judgemental or disgusted way. "Takami, have you ever auditioned before?"

"I haven't."

"We're going to give you a script to read and tell you what kind of character would be saying these lines. Then you'll do your best rendition of how you would act that character out. We'll have you do a few different characters that your appearance could match with." Keigo nodded, and was handed a script. "This character just lost a loved one but still needs to go on the journey." Aya sat in the fourth seat at the table.

Keigo read over the lines, memorizing them with one look. He put the script down. "What are you doing? You need to read from it," Tatsuma said.

"Oh, I already memorized them," Keigo stated. Aya grinned while the other three just had raised brows. "Okay, I'm ready when you are," he said pleasantly.

So Keigo went all out. He read the lines, summoning tears easily. He needed to be able to cry on demand for his manipulation training. A spy must know how to get into people's good graces, come across as sincere. He limited the tears and made sure he wasn't ugly crying. He put in breaks in his lines to try and catch his breath, as if he was swallowing down tears, keeping sobs just at bay.

When the last line was read, one of determination, he wiped his eyes and clenched his jaw to show he was no serious and would overcome the sadness. "There's no choice," he hissed. "I have to do it. I fI don't then I'm a goddamn disgrace, and I could never… never do that to her. To her memory. So I'll do it, even if it kills me."

He looked up and wiped the tears off his face, and then smiled awkwardly. "How'd I do?" He had memorized three pages of the script in one read. The four of them were in shock, so Keigo took that as he did well.

"Are you - have you taken acting lessons before?" Aigo asked.

"Yes, of a sort," Keigo said honestly. He didn't feel like going into detail.

"Try this character. He's the villain of the story. He wants to kill his younger brother and sister after their parents died and left everything to those children. He's bitter, angry and jealous of what was robbed from him," Michi said, sounding excited and handed Keigo the second script, trading with him as he returned the first. "He is a bit crazy and completely narcissistic."

"Okay," Keigo said, and read through the shorter script. Only one page. This one was with input from another character, which Tatsuma would be reading back.

Throughout the conversation the two characters had, Keigo's demeanor got more and more angry and short with his words, putting a real bite into them. He gave a nasty grin, far too many teeth showing. He forced his pupils to retract completely, and make his face red and angry before letting out a terrifying and bitter laugh.

Once he was done, he returned the script, and awaited a response. "How the hell did you do that? Your pupils," Michi said, gesturing to her own eyes.

"Oh, I'm able to force any bodily functions. I can sneeze on demand, I can vomit on demand, I can force myself to sweat in certain places. Ah, I know it's not normal," he added awkwardly.

"Wow," all four said. "Which character did you like playing more?"

"In honesty, I would rather play the good guy. I don't really want to play an evil character, after, y'know," he said, voice uncertain.

"Ah, yes, we can understand that. Well, some others will be auditioning, but I think I want you as the secondary main character. That was quite the performance!" Keigo beamed, glad he was actually putting his training to good use. It wasn't all just useless and to never be utilized. "For now, look up the source material to get a feel for Habiki's character."

"Right. Thank you for having me."

"Thank you for taking part." Aya walked with him out, and when the door shut, Keigo let out a deep breath.

"You did wonderfully, Takami-kun," Aya praised. "I didn't expect you to be that good!" Keigo smiled at the praise, truly happy he pleased at least someone. Even if he didn't get the role, he knew now that his "tricks" would help him if he ever did want to pursue acting. And it was pretty damn fun. He exchanged numbers with Aya, and he left when she went back inside. He went and got some groceries, appreciative that people no longer gave him looks. He felt that part of his life was over, and the auditioners were not averse to casting him because of his public past.

Rumi was overjoyed with the results, that Keigo had fun and didn't make a fool of himself. "Gee, thanks for the faith."

"I figured you'd be auditioning for some drunk, teenager frat boy. What? You would look the part, you're only 18, dude." Keigo knew that was true, he was still just a teenager, barely a legal adult, though he didn't need any guardians and could act if he wanted. But he was highly capable even at a younger age, he had a stable job, rented an apartment with Rumi and cooked for himself. He took care of himself.

He'd come so far. It had only been a little over a year since he imploded his life. He'd learned a lot about himself in that year, and how the world saw him. He saw what kind of person he wanted to be and was striving to meet his own expectations. And he would.

-x-

Keigo got the job, and had finished the book series that night, eyes flying across the pages and filing away any of the characterization of Habiki. It was a YA story, so Keigo's age was appropriate for the character he'd be playing. The other actors on set were not actually teenagers, only Keigo was. They were all in their twenties. He felt kind of left out, as he didn't know any of these people and he also had no other performances under his belt.

He was never skilled in making friends, he didn't really know how. Dabi made it sound easy, but friends meant you would trust them, you would try and be yourself. He tried talking with the actors on set, but none of them really welcomed him.

"You've never done any acting? Yet you landed a secondary character?" the other main secondary character actress said.

"Yeah, it was my first audition, too." Keigo had to wonder if something was said because nobody brought up his past. Maybe they didn't remember him. He didn't have his wings on on set since his character didn't have wings. There were little caps on his fingers to cover up the remains of his shaved down and useless talons. He had eye make up on and colored contacts in. There was a brace around his chest that flattened his wing bones as best as possible. It wasn't the most comfortable, but he wasn't a hero and he didn't need his wings right now. They were safely locked away in his locker in a bag. Well, he did have five feathers of different sizes compressed to his chest. In case he needed something.

"Heh. Stay in your lane, newbie," Karin said, his female counterpart. Both of them played best friends to the main character. Well, Keigo knew how to get along with people who looked down on him, he knew how to hold his tongue. She did seem annoyed that he wasn't looking upset. He wasn't really.

When it was time for him to come, he did his best to shine in the character, and while everyone on set were looking over their lines, Keigo memorized the entire script by now. When Karin forgot a line, Keigo reminded her of it with a smile. It wasn't a big deal to forget a line, most people didn't have his ability to memorize because they were never threatened with punishment if they were unable to remember something.

Keigo knew he wouldn't be punished here, but those instincts were in him for good, probably. After he would supply his costars with their lines if they forgot (which was often it seemed), he was in good graces! That was easy! He didn't really like Karin for how she treated him earlier, but it wouldn't show on his face or in his voice.

By the end of the day, he was tired, but still had some night lessons. He wasn't giving up completely on the personal training. When it came time to finally go home, he stopped at a KFC and got a bucket of fried chicken and a ton of biscuits for Rumi. The moment he walked through the door, she ordered him to tell her how things went.

She wanted all the dirt, and vented for him over any costars who doubted him. "It's my first day of my first job, of course they don't have faith in me. I just hope it doesn't last long."

"Well, in the film industry you gotta get along with peeps," Rumi said, stealing a drum stick, getting a stink eye. "Maybe if you make it big you can get a brand deal for KFC."

"That would be amazing," Keigo gasped. "Do you think they'd give me unlimited chicken? Flying is an extreme work out so I wouldn't gain anything."

"That can be your personal goal. Make it big enough to grab the attention of KFC."

"Right! I'll do that! One day, my face is gonna be on this bucket!" he said firmly.

"Hell yeah, dream big!"

-x-

Keigo got along swimmingly with his castmates by the end of the week. He was always one to want to please others, whether that as by design or natural, it didn't matter since it helped him out a lot. It was unfortunate when an older actor, working as the villain's father, brought up Keigo's unfortunate past.

"You all know he tortured that kid, right?" he asked bitterly when Keigo was joking around with his character's best friend.

"Yeah, but he also brought forward the corruption of the hero world. Besides, he owned up to it. You don't see us pushing about your numerous overdoses and the restraining order your ex wife has on you," En said bluntly. The older man's face went bright red, and Keigo stayed silent. The conversation moved away from Keigo and Agni's pasts. Keigo wondered if everyone here had dirty laundry.

He was awkward about the oldest actor on set and tried to avoid him. They had no scenes together, though, so they weren't needed to be close to one another at all. Other than him, he got along well and it did seem that nobody was faking being nice to him. Many did not believe he'd never had any acting experience, and he didn't tell them the reason why he was so good.

Up until then, he had not had a scene that took a lot of emotion, but he was practicing them at home in the mornings before going to work and then after his training sessions at night. He was a busy bee. But being kept busy was good for him, he enjoyed it. It was fun trying new things, and he had fun on set.

Sometimes he thought he didn't deserve happiness, but those thoughts few few and far between.

-x- Dabi -x-

"It sounds great!" Shuichi cheered. Dabi grinned widely at their first actually nicely made song. Nicely recorded. Dabi bought them recording equipment that was on a huge sale for a closing business. They got it dirt cheap compared to other more reputable places. They'd added violins in the software to make their song more dramatic. More epic.

They were all extremely proud of it. "Now we have to have some sort of image for it!" Toga said.

"Maybe we could put the lyrics on screen," Tenko said, twirling in circles on one of the desk chairs. "Should be easy compared to actually making the music." So they did that, and all of them sat in front of the computer and took a deep breath. Dabi pressed submit, and their music was finally online.

There was a knock on the shed door, and Dabi opened it to see Sheri looking sad. "It's time to say goodbye to Hikari." Dabi frowned, and nodded. The other three came too, and went to the living room to see her off.

"Come on, give me a nice big hug," Dabi said, kneeling since she was so damn tiny and he was taller now. She hurried over, and Dabi hugged her tightly. "Have fun with your new family, okay?" Dabi said with a soft smile. She nodded, and Dabi wondered if she'd ever take her mask off for her new family. Her permanent one. He would never know what her face looked like.

Rika was crying and Sheri looked bittersweet. Mei and Asahi had already given their goodbye hugs, and Mei had her hand on Rika's shoulder. Hikari's things were in her new family's car already, so she was all ready and set to go. When she finally left, Sheri started to cry. Dabi hugged her. They all knew they would need to leave eventually, hopefully for the two girls it would be to be adopted while Dabi would leave at 18.

It was so nice Mei was fine with him staying. Because he was comfortable here, he felt safe and loved. He would need to say goodbye to Sheri and Rika some day like Hikari. Sheri still had eight years until she was too old for foster care, and Dabi knew she'd be adopted before then. "Do you guys to want to hear our finalized song?" Toga asked to cheer them up.

"Absolutely," Mei said brightly. She was rubbing Rika's shoulders and Asahi was holding Sheri's hand. They slowly calmed and no longer were crying. The four musicians were kind of nervous to play it, but when they turned on the video and hooked the phone up to the surround sound in the room, they got good reactions.

"It sounds fantastic!" the foster mother exclaimed. The teens smiled in relief. "The editing to the music is fantastic, very worth the money for that program!" she heaped on the praise, saying she was proud of their determination and all the work they were putting into it. They were damn nice things to hear.

-x-

This year, Shuichi was in the same class as the other three, which they were all happy about. They sat in the two back rows. Dabi was sitting next to a stranger that he hadn't seen the year before. He had white hair and looked like a cranky bitch. Dabi had his feet on the table, and had promised Mei he wouldn't turn any of this years' teachers into his enemy.

There was no need to tell the girls in the class that he had their back when he was known around the school as the Tampon Man, and he had to admit there were some worse hero names out there, so he didn't much care. It was fucking hilarious in his eyes. The guy next to him looked at him with disgust. They wouldn't be getting along, it seemed.

"You need a tampon? Seem kind of pissy. And the hair and all," Dabi said. Mission accomplished, he was furious. Dabi dug around in his backpack and took out out and tossed it to him. "Knock yourself out. You're welcome."

Tenko rolled his eyes and Toga snickered. "Don't go making enemies on the fuckin' first day," Shuichi said.

"He was giving me a nasty look, what was I supposed to do?" Dabi asked in a falsely innocent voice.

"Ignore him! Maybe he's having a shit day, or doesn't like that you have your feet on your desk," the heteromorph said. Dabi stuck his pierced tongue out at him. The guy's name was Geten, and he was a smart ass that was just as bad as Dabi but with none of the redeeming qualities. Dabi hated him already.

He was one of those people that bragged endlessly over their quirk. He could control ice, but not create it. It was a cool quirk, sure, but pretty useless if it was hot outside and no ice was around. The class fawned over the cooler quirks. Dabi's wasn't well known, he didn't brag about it but seeing Geten treated that way despite being a jackass made the shape shifter cranky.

But he was not shallow enough or petty enough to randomly bring up his quirk and act like he needed validation, because he didn't. He could have Geten's ability if he wanted. He didn't really. Dabi had hundreds of quirks by now, but only used a handful daily. During lunch, when the four friends were wondering if they had time for a club since they had jobs, and were wondering if joining the cooking club was worth the extra effort when Chikazoku, a guy with long black hair with bangs that covered most of his eyes, asked what their quirks were.

Dabi looked at him in an unimpressed way. "Why?"

"You act all cool and tough but I bet your quirks are shit. Is that why you have no friends?"

"Dude. Look at us, why do you think we have no other friends?" Dabi asked with a condescending snort and sneer. A few of the students around them snickered. Aria, a girl who'd been in their class the year before, admitted she was curious about their quirks. But Dabi had zero interest in being known for his quirk. He didn't want people bothering him about it. Besides, he couldn't play pranks if they knew.

Dabi said, "I have a lame quirk, I'm not going to share it." Toga looked surprised with this, but none of his friends disputed it. Geten grinned in a mean way. "But at least I don't need validation in myself from a damn quirk," he said offhandedly. "Or appearance, pretty boy," Dabi said with a sneer.

"Of course not. You're a fucking mess! The hell happened to you anyways?" Geten asked, sounding annoyed while also very haughty.

"First of all, I look badass. Not just everyone has staples in their face. Second of all, it's none of your fucking business what made me look like this. And my unorthodox appearance is what got me loyal best friends. Can't say I have an ounce of shame of what I look like," Dabi said confidently. His best friends were smiling in a smug way.

"Aw, that's so sweet."

"I wish all guys were so open and honest."

Geten and Chikazoku looked annoyed with the girls in the class praising Dabi for his open honesty. After class was over, the four went to check out the clubs, but the only interesting one was cooking. But it was at a time that conflicted with Dabi and Shuichi's part-time jobs. So they couldn't do any clubs that year. Toga and Tenko didn't want to join a club alone, so all four of them wouldn't be partaking. It was only required for first years, but recommended for second and third years.

After work, Dabi having been stuck modeling as a teenage girl, he was asked about his schooling. After all, he was supposed to have graduated that year. But he still had two left. He lied and said he was held back. "Oh… why?"

"Home circumstances made keeping up with school very difficult," he lied easily. A good liar, not that he really did so to his foster family anymore. The topic was shut down once it seemed it would become more personal and nobody wanted to get into it. They just did Dabi's make up and he did what he was paid to do.

He had saved up a lot by now. More than enough to rent a nicely sized place if he had a couple roommates. Once he was 18, he was out of his foster home but since he was still legally part of the Todoroki family and he was getting child support, he may still get access to money. Well, no, because by the time he was 18, Enji would be out of jail, and Dabi had no doubt he'd be booted from the family. Disowned, hated, the whole shebang. Meaning he'd, financially, be all on his own.

Which was why he'd need roommates, preferably the other three friends would be those he stayed with. It was a drawback of not getting adopted anywhere. Oh well. If he lived on scraps, he'd just learn to create his own food and live off of that when he went to college.

-x-

A new foster child had come to replace Hikari. It was a boy this time, nine years old, a year younger than Sheri. His name was Enzo. He had bright red hair and horns. He was also littered with scars. He'd been in a car accident that killed both of his parents instantly, but he'd survived. As did his dog, who was an emotional support animal and so came along with him.

He was also mute, and communicated through sign language. Well, they did foster messes of children. And Enzo wasn't a danger to the family like Dabi had been when he came. Fleeing the hero government under a fake name and appearance. Enzo was scared of Dabi at first. He was taller, he had resting bitch face and was covered in scars and with metal bits sticking out of his face.

Dabi did what he could to try and make Enzo comfortable around him, but he wasn't going to change his appearance for him. He would stay as Dabi. It was him, and he wasn't about to change for some kid. So Dabi worked to get his dog's trust so Enzo saw that Dabi wasn't so scary. He easily got on the dog's good side, and learned how to read sign language as soon as he could. He didn't need to learn how to sign himself since Enzo could hear them speak.

The dog, Chimney, liked Dabi, and he decided to reveal his chosen quirk to the kid in all its extremes. "Do you want to see something cool, Enzo?" Dabi asked from the couch across from him. He was holding onto Chimney on the couch, the dog very well trained and behaved. Enzo shrugged, but looked nervous. So Dabi turned into him.

The boy gasped in shock. "I can't change into any form I want. Any appearance and any creature." Can you turn into a dog? "Yup! I could even turn into a dragon. What do you want me to turn into?" A dinosaur? Of course a dinosaur, every kid goes through a dinosaur phase, so had Dabi. He stood up and walked a bit away from the couch. "Got any specific one?"

A velociraptor? He signed out the word in letters since he didn't know the sign for that word. Dabi nodded and turned into the form seen in Jurassic Park. Enzo's eyes brightened in awe, and he smiled. The scars on his face tightened a bit and reflected light when he smiled. Can you make fluffy ears?

Dabi shifted back into his usual form, and sprouted black car ears from his black hair. Enzo actually giggled at it, and Dabi grinned. It was good the kid wasn't bothered by Dabi's smile and his mood wasn't ruined. That was the start of Dabi keeping cat ears on his head when around Enzo. He still had his normal ears to hear out of, the cat ones were just there aesthetically.

If he heard a noise, he even made the ears twitch in that direction. Mei thought it was the sweetest thing ever, and was always seen smiling when Dabi did this small thing that made Enzo so happy.

Unfortunately, Dabi had gotten so used to the ears at home on the weekends that he attended school with them out. He got plenty of stares, before realizing. Well, too late to take it back. He made them go away and sighed, trying to stop his red face from getting any redder. Nobody knew his quirk, and Dabi had said it was lame, so he was sure his class thought his lame quirk was just growing cat ears.

"Hah! Is that your quirk? Just growing fucking cat ears?!" Geten mocked.

"I only did it because it makes my foster brother happy. I forgot they were out," Dabi said nonchalantly, but was really embarrassed inside. Geten just laughed harder and Chikazoku joined in. Dabi was frustrated, annoyed that they really did think his quirk was useless. As the teasing intensified throughout the day, his enemies meowing at him in a mocking way, he decided enough is enough.

"My quirk isn't just cat ears, okay?!" he snapped at the end of class while everyone was cleaning the school before going home. They were wiping down desks and mopping the floor. This got everyone's attention.

"Then what is it? Can you grow a tail, too?" Geten asked in a simpering voice.

Dabi turned into Geten, perfectly imitating him. Everyone gasped. Dabi refrained from threatening him in this body. That he could dress in a tutu, put the photo online and ruin him. He didn't want to use his shape shifting quirk to hurt normal people, even assholes. Dabi changed back and finished mopping the floor, dumping the water out the open window.

"Wow! You can shape shift?!"

He sighed loudly but nodded. Geten looked angry and horrified. Dabi's quirk was much cooler than his and maybe that pissed him off. Chikazoku had never talked about his own quirk, so Dabi had no idea if his was better. Dabi refused any attention he got for his chosen quirk, not wanting to be thought of differently just because of his power.

For the next few days, everyone asked him about it, which just made him angrier and angrier. He didn't want them to all know and act like he was some cool person only because of that. He had no interest in being popular for any reason. Maybe if he and his friends were popular for their music, then that was okay. But not him singled out for a stupid reason like a quirk.

"The next person who asks me about my quirk is getting blasted all over social media in an embarrassing outfit!" he shouted at lunch. This had the opposite affect than his quirk had. Everyone started to avoid him and not talk to him of their own volition. Ah, that was better. Geten left him alone, and Dabi was free to not be bothered.

It was a good threat to get people to leave him alone. He was still polite to his classmates as long as they didn't treat him like some cool person because of his quirk. They didn't know the extent of it, and they wouldn't. Dabi didn't have an inflated ego that made him need to one up everyone with their quirks. Yes, he could beat anybody in anything since he had access to their quirks, but he'd never let anyone find out. That was a secret that only he and his closest loved ones knew.

-x-

Dabi was at the bank to get a new debit card, waiting in a long line for it. He was playing on his Switch, headphones on when he heard shouts of fear. Dabi looked up and took his headphones off when a villain walked into the lobby with a gun. You didn't see those often anymore. "Get all the money, now!" he roared at the bank tellers. "And all of you go sit over there!" More villains came out, and restrained all of the people in there. They were crying, scared, as their phones were yanked away. Dabi was annoyed that they were rough with his Switch a bit.

Good thing Mei was waiting outside so he didn't need to worry about her. He wasn't happy with this, he had to go to work soon and he couldn't get there if he was being held hostage. He waited there silently, not phased while police were outside and heroes tried getting to the scene. But there were villains with powers keeping authorities from getting inside.

Meaning the only way they'd get arrested right now would be if they left. Dabi looked around, and moved just a bit to let out an invisible copy of himself. He had it transform into a small critter and get out of the main room. Then it transformed into All Might, and he slammed a fist into the wall to get in. "All Might!" the villains and citizens called, the hostages in happiness and the criminals in horror.

"There's no need to worry… for I am here! Now, villains. You can fight me in here, or you can turn yourselves in." He was grinning, and Dabi was quite proud of his double's imitation. The villains weren't idiots, and knew they were fucked if this was the real All Might. So they ran outside. Dabi's All Might unfortunately met the real All Might.

Everyone were in shock, so Dabi dissolved his version in a mud puddle. Dabi collected his Switch, angry to see it was broken. He sighed, and left to go to Mei, who hugged him, in tears in worry. "You know I would have been fine," he said.

"I still worry," Mei said.

"They broke my Switch," he said angrily. The police needed to question them all, and Dabi sighed again. He just wanted to go home by now. He gave the interview, but didn't mention he was the one to resolve things. Nobody needed to know it was him, they should just be grateful with his quick thinking. It wasn't like he'd used his quirk to hurt anyone, so nobody needed to be arrested, they probably just wanted to have someone to thank.

Dabi finally got to leave, and he was in a cranky mood for awhile until he couldn't be and had to go to work. When he got home, the news was covering the mysterious All Might clone. Nobody thought anything of him, though. Dabi was not hero material, because he didn't do what he did to help everyone, he just wanted to go home. He could have waited it out fine. He was just annoyed the robbery was taking so damn long.

"Was that you?" Sheri asked, pointing at the TV.

"Maybe. Yes. They broke my Switch, and I was bored."

"Endeavor would be do disappointed," she stated, and Dabi rose his brows in question. "That's not the mindset of a hero." He scoffed.

"I didn't use force, unlike Enji would have, so my method was better. The mystery will die down eventually anyways. Nobody knew it was me. I'll try and find a repair or time reversing quirk somewhere so I can fix my Switch," he said, got a soda from the kitchen and went to his room. He didn't feel proud over what he'd done or anything. He was impressed with himself for pulling it off, but it just wasn't something he'd brag about even to himself.

His quirk was a tool he used daily, it was not his entire identity.

-x- Keigo -x-

"Okay, it's the big scene," Aya said. "Really sell it, this is the most important scene for your character."

"Yeah," Keigo said. He'd practiced this monologue extensively in front of Rumi, and she was positive he'd do fantastic. He sure hoped so. They declared action, and Keigo walked into the set room. The lighting was to show it was night time outside. His character had just watched his girlfriend die, so he was supposed to be in a bad headspace.

Keigo had his lower lip pressed down on by his teeth, eyes narrowed just slightly as he visible fought off tears. He threw his things down onto the couch in his character's studio apartment set, and then went to the kitchen and got out a beer. He tapped on the lid and snapped it open and took a heavy swig. It wasn't actually beer, it was fizzy water.

While he was holding it, an empty look flashed over his face. "Fuck," he sighed softly. Then he let anger take over his demeanor. "FUCK!" he bellowed and threw the can across the room, fake beer spraying everywhere. It landed with a clatter. In editing, this scene would be accompanied with a flashback of his girlfriend dying.

He scrunched his eyes shut and finally let tears come, slipping down his cheeks. He had the markings around his eyes covered with concealer right now, waterproof so he could cry his eyes out and the markings wouldn't risk showing again. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he whimpered, and sat on the bed slowly, bending over and grabbing at his hair.

"I can't do it, I can't fucking do it!" he lamented, and started punching the pillow before his anger got too much for a pillow, and he slammed his fist into a green mat on the wall that would become a mirror in post-production. He couldn't actually punch a real one without doing damage to his hand, and this was not the Commission, they weren't going to okay him getting hurt just to make him look realistic.

He looked down at his hand like there was blood there, and a haunted look came over his face. He acted out a PTSD attack. He'd had PTSD as a child and knew how to mimic it. He stumbled one step back and then crouched on the floor, falling onto his butt and rocking back and forth just barely. His eyes were shut, since he was locking in an episode. Tears pilled over his cheeks hard and he sobbed harshly.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"And cut!"

Keigo took a tissue from his pocket and dabbed his eyes and cheeks to try and not do anything to the makeup applied. "How was it?" he asked.

"Perfect!" the director cried out happily. Keigo smiled brightly. He sent out a feather to clean up the mess of the spilled drink, not even really needing to pay attention to it. He went to the break room to get a glass of water and saw Karin there. She smiled at him brightly. They got along much better now, and Keigo wanted to think the best of her, that she was just stressed and having a bad day that first day, but by the way she treated the crew, not the cast, it showed what kind of person she was. She was only nice to Keigo because she felt he deserved it, and everyone "below" her did not.

When they were on set together in the scenes with them and En as the main character, the three the best friend group, he would be especially nice to the camera crew after she was rude to them. He'd been a service worker and knew what it was like to be treated like shit by people but needing to smile along anyways for the sake of your job. Keigo didn't talk about her behind her back, say things like "wow, sorry about her" or anything of the sort, he'd just compliment them or tell them he hoped they had a nice day of shooting.

Sometimes he'd fetch them water bottles with his feathers. Just to be nice and have their days be a bit brighter. "Hey, Takami!" Karin said brightly.

"Hey."

"How was the scene?"

"Arata-san said I did well!" Keigo answered enthusiastically.

"How sweet of him." Sounded kind of condescending, but Keigo didn't make any show of it. "Takami, are you single?"

"Yes, but I'm not looking for a relationship," Keigo said pleasantly. Honestly the prospect of a relationship anything other than friend or coworker was incredibly daunting and uncomfortable. He wasn't good enough and nobody would ever actually want him with the emotional baggage he had hidden away. It just hadn't had the chance to come out yet. He had to have long term emotional scarring from his childhood, before and after the Commission bought him.

He had deep insecurities about himself, he sometimes thought Rumi was lying about ever wanting to be friends. He thought everyone hated him and even now he was sure some of his costars were bashing him behind his back. Naive, 18 year old Keigo. "Oh? Why not?"

Keigo had no desire to say the truth about this matter to anybody. "Just am not."

"Is it because of the torture stuff?"

"I'd really rather not talk about that," Keigo said. Karin rolled her eyes, like he was a child. Sure, he was a minor still, but he wasn't a child. He decided to leave before she said something hurtful and ruined his good day so far. He didn't tell her why he was leaving, just stood up and left the room to go on a walk. He'd rather go on a flight but the brace he had to wear to flatten his back required two people to help and he didn't want to get in and out of it. Too much work.

So he went on a walk around the studio, letting his head clear. But he was now thinking Karin wanted him to fail. That's why she sounded so condescending about Keigo getting any sort of praise. He would not see her as trying to be nice again. She wanted something from him, or wanted him to fail.

He did some action sequences with En, who needed a stunt double while Keigo was confident to do his own. One of them was that they were on a plane, and the plane would be crashing. It was fun, being inside the cabin that was on a machine that rolled it around. Keigo was jumping from seat to seat, him and the stunt double having harnesses that were green so could be edited out in post-production. The cabin turned vertical and Keigo grabbed onto one of the seats and pulled himself up.

"Hiro!" he shouted to the double, and grabbed his hand, easily heaving him up.

"Ready for the plane to crash!" someone called from off set. Keigo braced himself for the cabin shaking and thudding as if there was a crash. Both he and the double were fine, and it cut away so En could get in the place the double was recently in. They continued the scene, and it was overall very fun.

The two left and Keigo was smiling. "That was fun," he said honestly.

"I wish I was brave enough to do my own stunts," En said. "Not that my manager would really recommend that. I've gotten injured on set before and all." He was so nice. It was the last scene of the day, and the actors all went to wash the make up off their faces and then change out of their costumes.

En helped Keigo get the brace off. He sighed in relief once it was off. He'd need his wing bumps edited out if he ever had a shirtless scene. His wings came back and he felt whole again. He took his phone from his bag and walked out with some of the crew and En. "We should go out tonight," En said. "You guys want to come, too? You're not very appreciated, you deserve a night out, also." The crew members present were more than happy to do so.

Keigo smiled, looking forward to going to dinner. "Remember, I'm a minor," he said, worried En was thinking only about going drinking.

"You don't need to drink the restaurant. I'll pay, it would be rude to invite and not pay." Keigo was excited to go out with a friend. Rumi would be so proud of him. En was 22 years old, the second youngest actor. Even though he was four years older than Keigo, he treated him like an equal. "You don't like cars, right?"

He remembered! Someone was being so kind to him, and not in a transactional way. "Yeah, I'm not a big fan. I can fly there and meet you," Keigo offered. He was given the address, and planned to meet him and the handful of crew members. He flew there easily, arriving in minutes. He perched on the roof to wait as the cars lined up.

Based on who was the one to offer, a big movie star, he expected the place to be expensive, or a night club. It wasn't. It was a normal restaurant, a small business. En made a reservation, so they all went in together. The menu looked fantastic, and the place smelled good. There was no underlying scent of alcohol. Drinks were ordered, but Keigo didn't expect En to be as bad with booze as Rumi was. Well, he hoped not.

Keigo ordered chicken kabobs, and his gold eyes sparkled when they were served. While Keigo was eating, more people came in and he saw it was Karin and a teenage girl. He had a bad feeling about this already. "Ah, En, Takami!" she said. "Why didn't you invite me?"

En may be nice but he was not happy with her trying to crash their outing. There was no more room at the table. Keigo had to take up one side of the booth with his wings and the rest of the table was full with En and the crew members who were invited. "You just weren't invited. And still aren't." Karin narrowed her eyes.

"As the three main stars, we should be the closest on the set!" she protested. Keigo didn't know if that was true or not, but En shot it down. "Come on, we came all this way-"

"Then you can drive the way back, can't you?" Keigo continued to eat. "And don't even think to try and set Takami up, it's none of your business what his personal life is." His eyes widened in surprise, and Keigo wondered if people on set knew that Karin had been rude to Keigo sometimes. The teenage girl ripped her hand away from Karin. They didn't look alike, so maybe they weren't family.

"You came to set me up with him?!" she asked in disgust. Keigo felt heat pour into his chest and face. "You know what he did!"

"Yes, but that was awhile ago and he'll be making good money soon!" Keigo wasn't in a position at the table to be able to slip out and leave. He was stuck. He shut his emotions off and just ate like a robot. En ordered her to get out now, and she left with an angry huff, shouting at the young lady she'd brought.

En looked at him sympathetically. "I'm so sorry, man. This was supposed to be fun!"

"Do you think the film will get boycotted because I'm involved?"

"Honestly? I seriously doubt it. There might be backlash at first but once you're more known for good stuff, I think people will recognize you're trying to turn your life around. For fucks sake, you were only seventeen."

"Are you only nice to me out of pity?" The crew looked extremely awkward.

"No," En said firmly. "You're a nice guy, Takami. The nicest other actor on set, of course I want to get along with the nicest guy there. And everyone already knows about her snide remarks and manipulation." Keigo looked mildly surprised. "Emmi Karin - she's known in the industry as both a very good actress, and a total bitch. We all knew this beforehand, and knew not to talk to her because of it. She twists what you say around to fit what she wants - her agenda. If you stick with this business and get hired elsewhere, you will come across people like her. People with big heads."

Keigo gave a sad smile. "Thanks for helping me. I don't… I don't know why she'd want to set me up."

"Money and fame. Takami, you are a fantastic actor and crew member. Even if the public gives a bad reception to your character, at this job, you are supherb. You will get acting roles, and make money and notoriety. You're like the innocent baby deer of the production. You have no idea what you're doing even if you're doing it well, so you're open to manipulation. Well, we won't stand for it. Try to stay away from Karin when not working together."

"I knew she was kind of rude, and I knew people didn't like her much. I didn't know it was this bad, though. I should have."

"Dude, don't beat yourself up about it."

"I'd like to go home, now." He pulled out his wallet. "I'm sorry I ruined the night out."

"It wasn't you, Takami," En said in a surprisingly firm voice. "Don't let her make you think you did anything wrong here. You're not a hero anymore, but that doesn't mean you don't deserve respect." Keigo gave a strained smile and nodded, boxing his food to finish at home, though it would be cold. He left, flying away.

Rumi was in the living room with her girlfriend. They saw Keigo's demeanor, and both of them asked what happened. Rumi's girlfriend, Tomoko, was good friends with Keigo, too, and he finally broke down and told them about what happened, and how scared he was that he'd be hated, that he'd bring down the sales for the movie.

"Kei, Boo, you aren't a hero anymore. You're not responsible for other people's happiness and you don't need to cater to them. Are you having fun? Ignore that bitch, put her aside, is this fun for you?" He nodded. Because it was. "Then who cares about anything else? They hired you, they knew the risks and repercussions. You confessed to the country, you aren't pulling a fast one over anybody," Rumi said firmly. "I think you should start recording things, now, though. She might get more aggressive with her bullying, or try and bring your name down."

"I have a recorder you can use!" Tomoko said brightly. "I was going to use it to spy on Rumi, but you could use it better."

"Aww, you were gonna listen to me? That's so sweet!" Rumi simpered, and Tomoko laughed. Neither of them were currently drunk. Tomoko kissed the bunny's cheek and went to her bag and pulled out a small ring box that held a small clip on camera. "Clip this in your harness you wear to hide your wing bumps. No way it could fall out then. Won't have any video, but recording sound is a safety net of its own!"

Keigo thanked her sincerely. "Don't let anyone know you're recording, it could mess with legal matters. So just don't tell anybody," Tomoko stated.

"Okay. I'm gonna finish my food and stay in my room." They didn't press him and he was thankful. He brought his food to his bed and turned on his computer. He saw an YouTube notification. Dabi's band made another new song. Keigo smiled and put the headphones on to listen. It wasn't something totally miserable, which was good. He had an obsession about wanting Dabi to live a good life that he checked up on his YouTube channel a lot. It as all he had as he sure as hell wasn't gonna asked Natsuo for updates.

He got them anyways, sometimes. Natsuo told him - voluntarily, Keigo didn't ask - that Dabi walked around at his foster home with fluffy cat ears because they made his new foster brother feel safe and happy. Dabi was so strong to already be okay over what happened. Less than two years and he wasn't a complete mess, in a mental hospital and unable to move on from the torture.

He was stronger than Keigo, and maybe the winged teen was a bit jealous. He still hadn't moved on, he still searched the eyes of those he spoke to to see if they truly hated him. He was ashamed he didn't truly realize what kind of person Karin was and vowed to himself to be better with new people. Be skeptical because it could protect him in the long run.

Dabi's band's song played on repeat while he ate his cold chicken.