-x- Dabi -x-

"Ta da," Dabi said, holding a guitar in it's case. He'd created it himself, he knew how the instrument worked like the back of his hand, so creating one was easy. He liked to have his own that he bought since it just felt better having a genuine one, but he wasn't going to buy one when he could just make another.

Kai looked surprised. He was invited to his house, which was pretty old and big, but didn't really have anything to do and honestly, not doing anything was kind of awkward in a way.

Since the guitar was boxed and sealed, it looked like it had no germs when Dabi had handled it, but wore gloves and wiped it down afterwards. "You bought a guitar?"

"It's an old one I got a long time ago but never used." A lie, but not a harmful one. "If you don't want to learn that's fine, I should have asked."

"No, it's fine."

"I have a pick so you don't need to take your gloves off for it," Dabi said. He walked inside, his own guitar on his back by it's detailed strap that Fuyumi had gotten him for Christmas. "You have a nice place. You live alone?" They hadn't talked about his family, Dabi had talked about his odd situation, two families at the moment, but would be one in just a few weeks.

"... I live with my father, and his grand daughter. We don't get along, and I don't see her much," he said, sounding honest. Dabi was currently wearing a face mask, like usual. It really didn't bother him. Yes, they were sort of dating but he didn't expect anything from him that he didn't want to give, didn't feel comfortable giving. Dabi wasn't going to be someone who pressured him into anything, especially when it was something that would make him deeply uncomfortable, so much so he'd probably never want to see Dabi again.

If they couldn't even touch hands, then kissing would be a fucking catastrophe that Dabi would just rather completely avoid. Not that he felt comfortable enough to kiss himself. He felt like he was in the dark right now, and was just trying to find his way. If this didn't work out, at least it was good practice.

"Do you talk to your father much? Are you close?"

"We were. He's in a coma right now. His… employees take care of him, I don't really like seeing him."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Dabi said with a frown. Kei lead him through the house and to a living area. "This place is big as fuck." The other didn't seem to give a shit about swearing, but Dabi didn't unload f-bombs every sentence like he often did around his long term friends.

When they came to the couch, Dabi gave off the unopened box. Kai got some scissors and opened the box. "I've never played an instrument before. I'm gonna do terribly."

"You think I was a prodigy in the beginning? I had an old shitty one when me and my friends decided to be the music club," Dabi said. Kai was surprised by the clear quality. It wasn't cheap looking or cheaply made. No, Dabi made it good condition, nice and shiny, the wood a pleasing color. "It'll need to be tuned, so I have this," and he took out the sealed digital tuner.

Kai listened on how to work it very well, paying close attention. He was a smart person, he had a full ride scholarship to a college but hadn't gone yet because he wasn't ready, didn't know what he wanted to do in life yet. Dabi assumed now that it also might have something to do with his dad in the coma. Would Dabi be able to heal him?

"Chords are hard to master but the backbone of using a guitar. Unless you have very skintight gloves, chords could be difficult to use." Kai left for a moment and came back with surgical gloves.

"Would these work?"

"Maybe, I'm not sure," Dabi said honestly. Kai pressed his fingers to the strings, and awkwardly strummed with the pick. Dabi showed him the most commonly used chords in most music, and was glad Kai was actually listening to how to, not getting frustrated with having difficulty. After an hour, he was able to move his fingers correctly if looking down at them, which was really common for those first learning; Dabi had done that, too. Spinner had the hardest time with his clawed fingers but he'd adapted and could use his fingers easily as individual picks.

"Nice," Dabi said. "Try to play them in the order I said." He was pleased when the other managed to actually play something. "Fuck, you're a faster learner than I am."

"Well, you learned on your own. I have someone teaching me," Kai pointed out. "How do you work the background music in your videos? Clearly nobody is playing the violin."

"Ah, that's Tenko's speciality. It's a computer program. Could make the whole song on that thing, it's like fucking magic," Dabi said, crossing his legs. "My role is to sing and write the lyrics, so I'm not good at the software. I can edit the videos well enough."

"How do you make those videos? They look professionally done." Dabi grinned behind his mask.

"It's a secret," he said, his smile in his voice but hidden behind the barrier. "Magicians can't reveal their tricks." Kai rolled his eyes, and Dabi laughed. "I understand if it's a personal topic, but how'd your dad get so sick?"

Kai's face closed off, and Dabi didn't speak, waiting either for an answer or rejection, and either one was fine, he wouldn't be upset. "When I was younger, I accidentally used my quirk on him." Dabi assumed he was disfigured completely based on what he knew of Kai's quirk, so he was picturing the worst. "I don't feel confident in putting him back together. I don't want to make it worse."

"So, you're waiting until you trust yourself to fix him?" Dabi asked carefully, voice soft and kind, as he assumed Kai felt unbearable guilt being the reason he was in a coma, and the reason he was not being fixed. He nodded. "Wow. I'm sorry. You… want him to wake up?"

"Yeah. I just don't want to end up killing him." Dabi was happy he was being open. After another hour or so, Dabi had to go pick Sheri up from her volleyball practice, so he left early.

"Keep the guitar. No need to pay me back, it's an extra I don't need - or really want, I like the dual type, that's only acoustic."

"Thanks."

"Yeah. Is there a bathroom I can use before I leave?" Kai gave him directions down the hall, and once Dabi was in the bathroom, he duplicated himself, and his double turned into an invisible mouse. He trusted his double to do anything he would, since they were both Dabi. There were no orders to give, his double knew what he wanted and wanted to do the same thing. They were both the same person, only one was real and one was a quirk.

He used the bathroom and left, flying to pick up Sheri. "How was your date?"

"Taught him how to play the guitar."

"That's so sweet."

"Yeah, I also left a double behind to fix his dad. Dude's in a coma," Dabi said. Sheri's eye widened. "What? He wants his dad back, of course I'd help." He wrapped his arms around her waist, his guitar situated between his wings when he took off and brought them back home. When he landed, his phone rang, and he steeled himself.

"Hello?"

"What did you do?" Kai asked, voice wavering, choked up.

"What do you mean?"

"Did you do something? My father woke up." Dabi would either tell the biggest lie that would always be there in the back of his mind, or he could be truthful and show trust. "Did you do something?" Kai pressed.

"...Yes," Dabi said in a cautious voice. "You said you wanted him to wake up, didn't you?"

"How?"

"Don't tell anyone else. My quirk is… versatile. I'm sorry if I violated a boundary, I just wanted you to have your dad back."

"Thank you." Dabi smiled.

"Hey, don't cry. Go hang out with him, maybe teach him how to play the guitar. Just don't ask me how, I can't tell you. At least not yet, it's not safe for me."

"I won't. I won't ask. Thank you." His voice was emphatic, deeply, deeply thankful.

"Anytime," Dabi said nicely. The call ended, and he felt really good, glad he didn't fuck up. Hopefully his father was not angry at him, but based on the call, there was no fear in his voice, he didn't fear for his safety. Dabi was in a great mood, though, and it was even better when he texted with Kai about it.

Apparently his dad didn't hate him, as it had been an accident, and he had been self aware enough to know he might fuck up again, and it was better to try and wait for a solution. According to his dad, he just woke up, nobody in the room, meaning his double had been invisible when he healed him, and then most likely turned into something small to escape the building and combust to get rid of itself somewhere safe.

Kai would not tell him it was thanks to Dabi, but that it was some sort of miracle.

When he told his friends, Toga squealed. "His dad's gonna love you!"

"I wouldn't count on it," Dabi said, shoving her away as she hug squeezed him. "I didn't do it to buy his affection. I felt bad for him and he had no way to fix it himself. It's not like it's hard or took up a lot of time or effort to do so."

"You're such a good boyfriend," Toga praised.

"I wouldn't… call it that," Dabi said, flushing, and scratched his cheek, something Shoto did as well. "I'm not gonna rush or anything." Toga grinned, and hugged him again. All of the women in his life were very proud of him, saying he was so wonderful, but he didn't see this as a big deal. He did it because it was right, he wasn't trying to score points, but he didn't correct them, hoping they'd drop it. He was just happy Kai was happy and his father was back.

-x-

Dabi opened his eyes with a blank expression, looking at his ceiling. The ceiling fan wasn't on, casting harsh shadows from the open curtains. He rolled onto his side, looking at his stapled wrist. He curled up and bit his lip. He clenched his fingers and pressed his palms to his eyes to stop the tears.

It was his 18th birthday. He was officially, legally an adult. He needed to start getting ready to move, he had to find a place. He and his friends were already enrolled in the same college. A normal community one, no need to go somewhere fancy. Dabi didn't give a shit and was (at the moment) choosing to major in fashion management. He was gay, he was given a pass to do so without emasculating himself. Not to mention he was already a fashion model and knew quite a bit about the subject, and was good at sewing.

Toga was in that, too, both of them in the same major. Tenko and Shuichi were both in engineering. They wanted to learn how to make things, pull off DIY videos. It wasn't like Dabi couldn't just create the supplies they'd need for that shit.

Dabi was looking for houses, alongside Keigo. Anywhere near the school they chose, either close to it or close to a public transportation to the place were open, so they had quite a bit to choose from. Keigo promised to split the rent with Dabi until the other three got their own jobs to start contributing. Maybe they'd start trying to monetize their videos.

Keigo could easily afford to front all of the rent, but respected that Dabi especially did not want to solely depend on him, even if he trusted Keigo completely to not leave them high and dry.

But today, turning 18, really made it all so real. His life for the past three years would come to an end. He would have no ties to Mei and Asahi, he would now only have one family, his biological. He loved them and knew he had a lot of inheritance and would have support, but it felt like he was losing something very important.

He'd been acting as an adult awhile, with his own job, but it was official. He was no longer a minor. He rolled over when his phone rang, and answered it to Keigo. "Hey." He didn't sound tired, Keigo didn't wake him up and he was in no state to turn his brain off and go back to bed, even if it was a Saturday.

"Hey. How are you doing?"

"Shouldn't you be wishing me happy birthday?" Dabi asked in a flat voice.

"No, because it's not happy for you," Keigo said in a kind voice. "How are you feeling?" he repeated.

"I'm scared," Dabi said quietly. "What if I'm not - not a good adult? What if I do something wrong?"

"You won't be alone. You have a lot of people to support you. Unlike foster kids in your position, you won't be going into the adult world all on your own, with nothing and nobody to help you. You will have hope and guidance. I was in your position. All adults were. I'm here, I promise. It's okay to feel this way."

"I'm so scared, what if they forget all about me? What if I forget about them?"

"You won't. In at least some way, even if its small in the future, you will always have a strong bond with the people who saved you, who took you in in this weird situation, housed your siblings in an emergency. Could you ever see yourself forgetting them? You helped Sheri and Rika so much, you assured Enzo the world wasn't all evil and scary. There's no way they could forget you. At least not Sheri. She's as much your sister as Fuyumi is."

"... I know. I know it's stupid to feel so scared-"

"It's not."

"It feels like it is. I don't wanna be a grown up, Kei. What if I fuck up and go to jail?"

"Do you plan on doing anything illegal or dangerous?"

"No…"

"Then there's nothing to fear," Keigo soothed. Dabi sniffled, trying not to cry. "It's okay to cry."

"I'm so scared."

"It'll be okay. I'm here, your friends are here, your family, Chisaki, you have so many people. But even then, it's okay to be scared." He let Dabi cry and then compose himself. Dabi was indeed lucky he had so much support. All through the day, nobody truly congratulated him, they just gave him comfort. Whether it was in food, in gifts, or just kind texts. He got something from everyone.

When he hid in his room most of the day, Mei came up, and knocked on the door. Dabi called her in, and she entered with a plate with what looked like a small chocolate lava cake. The sight and smell made his mouth water. He would be eating that. She softly closed the door behind her.

She didn't look any different than she had nearly three years ago, when she took in the traumatized Dabi, a very recent boy named Touya. She dealt with his bad attitude, and introduced him to the concept of a loving parent. She influenced his life so much, more than anyone else, probably.

Setting the cake down on the bed in front of him, she sat in his desk chair. "It's okay to be scared," she said calmly. "You have every right to be. Its a big step, but you're not alone."

"I know, Keigo already went over it all." He didn't really want to hear it again only to again feel no reassurance.

"You have all the necessities of being an adult and living on your own. You know how to pay bills, call for repairs, grocery shop, cook, you know it all. You'll just be putting it into real practice, now. And Keigo has been living as an adult for years, too. He knows what this feels like." Dabi nodded. "You've been incredibly smart an careful with your money."

Dabi tuned out the rest, and just nodded along, he really didn't want to think about it anymore. Mei noticed he'd closed off, and Dabi just got a smile, showing she wasn't upset. She moved to sit next to him, and touched his face. "I am so proud of the man you've become." Dabi pressed his lips together, to try not to cry, and she left before he did, closing the door with a barely audible click.

He ate the lava cake while it was still hot, and then left to go to his safe space that he hadn't needed to visit in awhile. He set his phone down on the dock when he landed, and jumped into the water, letting himself sink after making sure nobody was watching. He sunk lower and lower, air in his lungs not helping him be more buoyant as he breathed underwater just fine.

Dabi sat there for a long time, just staring out at the murky water, some fish and crabs in view. He relaxed, and ended up zoning out so much he was near unconscious. But then he heard his phone ring, muted from above but audible since he turned the volume up to the highest. He swam up and climbed up onto the dock before heating himself up enough to steam dry himself and his clothes.

He found it was Kai, and didn't really want to talk but also wouldn't just not answer like an ass. "Hey."

"Are you feeling any better?" the 20 year old man asked. Dabi laid on his back on the dock, feet in the water, his shoes being the only article of clothing he'd taken off before jumping into the water.

"Yea… not really," Dabi admitted. He'd told Kai he didn't look forward to his birthday, but hadn't gone into detail. He'd texted him that he hoped he had a good day, but not happy birthday, which was a considerate way to word it. "How's your dad?" he asked, not wanting to talk about his own problem, which Kai respected and didn't ask of press further.

"Doing very well. He's gotten back to work already."

"Is that a good thing?"

"He's glad to do it, so I assume so. He wants to meet you. Not because he knows you were the one to fix him when I couldn't. I won't tell anyone." Dabi believed that was the truth, and he could trust Kai to keep his word, but wouldn't tell him about his past or his quirk. Not yet. Not yet.

But the prospect of meeting Kai's father, who was a proper business man, made him worried. He didn't have the most respectful background for the public. He regularly swore in his music, he didn't look respectable, he didn't dress nicely, only edgy, dramatic black clothes. He didn't think Kai's dad would like him.

"Are you sure? I mean, I don't really fit your personality," Dabi said, sounding kind of awkward.

"You make me happy. I don't think he'd hate you. Maybe dress a bit nicer."

"You don't want my dramatic emo get up? How hurtful," Dabi said in a sad voice.

"I'm not talking about a suit," he replied, sounding exasperated. "Feel free to wear black, just maybe not the jacket and spiky boots."

Dabi didn't have an issue dressing a bit nicer to look better. It wasn't like he was completely 's father would easily find him online, so dressing nicer was the only way he felt he could look better besides being polite and sociable. He could do that, he just didn't do it regularly.

"Ugh, fine," he said in fake exaggeration.

"You're insufferable."

"Well, you've made clear that's the reason you're interested in me," Dabi joked.

"Definitely insufferable."

-x-

"Too bad the tampon guy will be gone, soon," Dabi's classmate joked.

"Hopefully someone will follow in my footsteps and make it a tradition," Dabi replied. School was coming to a close quickly, and everytime Dabi opened his phone in the morning and saw one more day had passed, he had mini panic attacks. He'd had one in front of his unsaid boyfriend when he had a reminder to start moving things to the house he had set up with Keigo.

Kai had hurried to get him a bottle of water, not comfortable touching him in any way, even with his gloves. It was fine, Dabi was more embarrassed than disappointed. He admitted he'd had his own panic attacks, so he understood, which Dabi appreciated. At least it wasn't in front of his family, who he'd be meeting that weekend.

There was buzz in the third year classes about going off to college. Dabi and his friends were going to the same one as some of his classmates, but not Geten at least, though they'd successfully ignored each other since last year.

Dabi realized, in some ways, he had to finally grow up. He shouldn't provoke strangers, no matter if they were assholes. He should finally learn to drive and buy a car like Keigo had. He needed practice at shopping at different stores besides the grocery one. They were small things in his mind, but also huge.

He was stepping out into the dark, no matter how many light sources he had waiting behind him in support, what was ahead of him felt like pure darkness. Not even the brightest light could chase it all away.

"I'm staying with my family all through college."

"Me, too, working while doing school seems like too much."

Dabi sunk lower into his chair. His friends took no offense to how bummed he was about moving out when they were all excited. Dabi didn't hate it, but he would miss his family. He was glad to be rooming with people he liked and knew, but it would still be very different. Toga looked at him sadly, Tenko looking at his phone with his own sadness while Shuichi looked worried.

Out of them all, Keigo was the most excited to move in with them, and not because he wanted to leave Rumi. He was leaving while she was already set up for her long term girlfriend to take his room. Of course they'd still stay in touch, there was no way they wouldn't, but he was very excited to live with them, which was nice. And it was nice to have someone wealthy and generous with money there to help them out if anything went wrong, though Dabi really did have three years worth of a large paycheck in savings just for living on his own.

He would keep his job and they would keep their music going, so he knew he'd be busy for the next few years, but was sure he'd find a balance, because he had to.

After school, he went to spend the rest of the Friday with his bio family. They were to play video games, having four Wii controllers so all four siblings could play. Dabi was unashamed to play the dancing game since it was a small competition, and not for a public music video. Shoto was actually the one who won the most, which was hilarious, and he was very proud of himself, something he'd gotten better at lately. Being proud of his success in school or when he got into painting. He hadn't used his quirk in years.

While Fuyumi was in touch with Enji, and had even seen him, Dabi, Shoto and Natsuo weren't in contact, and their sister never pushed them to do so, having grown up as well. Dabi wondered what life would be like if he hadn't gotten them out, or if he hadn't run away at all. Would he be going to college, or trapped at home doing maybe online school? Would he be independent? Would he have friends and even a boyfriend? He had no idea.

Dabi and Fuyumi helped make dinner while Natsuo and Shoto watched cartoons. Once dinner was over, they all sat in the living room in varying places, often not eating at the dinner table. It was comfortable, and Dabi was so glad he had them with him for life, he wasn't going to be familyless only unless he married into a family.

-x- Keigo -x-

"Just hang back and wait until the break up," Rumi said understandingly about Keigo moping again about Dabi being taken. But that was what he was waiting for, for Dabi and Kai to break up. Then Keigo could wait a bit depending on if the break up was messy, and at least hint to Dabi by saying he realized he was gay, too. A single house full of gays. Replacing a place that was also currently full of gays. It was crazy weird that they were all like that, friends even before any of them knew one another were that way. Though Keigo was still in the closet for everyone but Rumi.

His movie finished shooting, and the romance one came out and Keigo shuddered at the kiss he had with his female co-star. He knew he couldn't let his preferences interfere with work, and it really was just work. He got more fangirls for his performance in the romance movie, and thought it was almost funny that he would never be with any of them no matter how hard they wanted it.

Even if he didn't desperately want to be with Dabi, more than friends, he still wouldn't be with any of them, and not just because they were girls, but he didn't want a fan, someone that pretty much worshipped him without even personally knowing him, to be in a romantic relationship. Would they fawn over him? Would a relationship be love and not obsession?

Well, having people adore him was better than hate any day.

Dabi had said it was his first time going to meet Kai's family, and Keigo didn't feel hurt that Dabi dressed nicely for it, unlike for Keigo's event, because Keigo loved what Dabi wore and was who he wanted to be. His get up was the black, edgy look, not nicely dressed, not that it hid his scars, even behind the face mask he wore with Kai.

Keigo did hope it went well. He wanted to be Dabi's and have him, but that didn't mean he wished for him to have a messy or miserable break up. He could want to be with him but also wish him happiness at the same time.

He had wished his friend luck, and really meant it.

"I want him to choose me over Kai," Keigo mumbled.

"You have to let him know then. There's no way he'd consider you if he still thinks you're straight," Rumi insisted.

"I know… I have to find a good time. Maybe when - when we're moved in and things are more comfortable," Keigo said. He sat up, his face creased from resting on a blanket for a bit while he had a pity party. "I'm gonna go to the house and do some more cleaning."

"Okay," Rumi nodded. She wasn't upset Keigo was moving out, really, which was deeply relieving.

He flew a few cities over in another prefecture and to the new house. It was older, but had a big backyard, six bedrooms, was two stories, and was just nice all around. It was not new, and was not anything "spectacular" but Keigo respected that the other four weren't rich and Dabi refused to have Keigo pay most of the rent. So they chose a middle of the road house, western style.

Keigo was happy with it and it was already an upgrade from the apartment, so he wasn't bothered that it wasn't top notch. Keigo did have a good security system set up, and it had a large wall and gate around the property so people couldn't get on it and bother them because Keigo lived there or if the League made it big, they wouldn't be pestered either.

Dabi made a bubble around it anyways that couldn't be penetrated anywhere but the gate opening, which needed a pass code. Their cars were parked on the street, but they had plenty of space for it, and the street wasn't a bad or busy one. Their cars should be safe. Keigo had a nice one, but wasn't the most expensive or newest. He chose comfort over price for sure.

The man he loved's car was behind Keigo's. He had a permit but hadn't taken the test yet, so he couldn't drive it without someone in it with him. He planned to take it over summer.

Keigo unlocked the front door with the key, three locks just to be safe, and entered the home. His new home. Most of the furniture was new, paid for by Keigo unless it was bedroom stuff. Dabi had been slowly moving his things into his room at a pace that he gradually got used to his current room no longer being his safe space.

It was a good tactic to ease him out of the house he'd called home for three years. Keigo looked around with a smile, and got the cleaning supplies out of the cupboard under the sink and sent his feathers around to wipe the surfaces, and had three use a broom to dust the floor. He went upstairs and looked in the bedrooms. His was next to Dabi's, with Tenko and Shuichi in the other two rooms. Toga's room was the only one downstairs so she could have more privacy, being the only girl, which never was a problem before. She also had her own bathroom, which she was so excited about. It hadn't even been a question, Toga got the room, it was a fact from the start.

The music room was a mother in law suit in the backyard, which was small, too small to comfortably live in, but more than big enough for a very nice studio. The walls were sound proofed anyways. They didn't want to disturb their neighbor over the fence. Keigo had gone around to introduce himself to the neighbors, and made it clear he was not living alone. Both on either side were old people and didn't recognize Keigo, which was nice.

The old widowed woman already baked them cookies, so hopefully she was fine with the unorthodox appearances of Keigo's roommates. His friends and his crush. He was in love with the man he tortured.

He looked in Dabi's room, which was mostly bare but for boxes of things. They weren't moving his whole room, the furniture like the mattress and desk would stay, as they'd been there before him. He bought a new one, a queen memory foam one that was comfortable as fuck. Keigo's bed took up half of his room, but he was fine with that. As long as he was able to sleep with his wings out stretched, it was fine.

His feathers cleaned the whole place, and Keigo put all the boxed kitchenware in the cupboards. Maybe he could help Dabi cook. He'd learned to cook his own food when it was necessary, way better food than the Commission's boxed meals.

Going to the couch, he thought of if it would be hard to see Dabi every single day and not have him, not even knowing Keigo could like him that way. Well, if he did break up with Kai, then Keigo would be one of the first to know.

After awhile of lounging on the long sectional couch, he got a text.

It went well. His dad was surprised by me since his family is proper and all. I don't think he disliked me. I was nice enough. A bit bummed I couldn't be myself but it was for the best.

Good! I'm happy for you!

Kai apologized afterwards for me not being able to be myself. Lucky his dad isn't working at home so if I go over he's not there.

Keigo scowled but then relaxed his face. He could not be stupidly possessive because Dabi was not his, and he would never be chained to him after the childhood he'd had. He felt bad and hoped he could get over it soon.

-x-

Tomie had talked to a news station about Keigo's past, but it wasn't like that wasn't public information, Keigo explained it himself. And everyone who'd seen the broadcast three years ago knew that he was sold to his abusers by his mother, who was now trying to drag his name through the dirt. Joke's on her, he was already dragged through mud a long time ago, for a long time.

The public wasn't happy with her bringing such things up, and it completely backfired. She was trashed on the internet and hadn't been seen or heard from since the news clip had gone poorly for her. Keigo loved his fanbase for this, and even many of his co-stars made tweets low-key bashing her and supporting Keigo.

It was nice, and he felt safe and secure.

Dabi's graduation was next week and everyone had been helping each other move their things to the new house with a moving van. Dabi made doubles of himself, all looking different, to bring the furniture in very efficiently. Keigo looked forward to living with someone with that quirk and seeing how he used it for every day tasks.

Keigo was on a flight - alone, no Dabi - when his phone started to ring, his crush's ringtone. Keigo landed on the nearest structure, and answered, also seeing he was flooded with alerts. Something was wrong. "What's wrong?" Keigo asked immediately after answering the phone.

"You haven't seen the video?"

"No… fuck, what happened?"

"CCTV footage was leaked about our little escape with the kidnapping. It shows me using multiple quirks and saving you, your wings easily recognizable." All the color drained from his face, that people knew of Dabi's overpowered and unheard of quirk. A quirk he manifested by himself, with no genes from his family.

"Fuck… Are you okay?"

"I've already gotten a dozen fucking messages on Twitter asking for me to consider being a hero. I just blocked them all. Fuckers."

"Oh, god, I'm so sorry," Keigo said, as it was all his fault, he was kidnapped and Dabi had to save him and was outed. "What does Kai think?" he asked, not wanting Dabi to suffer because of this.

"Well… he knows how I healed his dad… He's not upset I kinda-sorta lied. The video came out at fucking lunch at school, and everyone saw it and are shocked and asking me if I stole their quirks, too. It's fucking awful. Not your fault, I should have disguised myself, I'm not exactly hard to identify…"

"Shit… I'm really sorry. I don't care if you don't blame me, I'm the one that was kidnapped-"

"Shut up. It's not your fault, you're just gonna piss me off more blaming yourself," Dabi said, sounding sour. Keigo quieted, not wanting to stress him out more. "Sorry - sorry, I didn't mean to snap."

"It's okay. At least… at least you can like, do behind the scenes for your videos."

"The mystery is gone. That sucks." His voice was a touch whiny. "It least I'll be leaving here soon, so it won't bother the family. And we have a gated place and I won't allow anyone who doesn't know the code to enter."

"Yeah." He still felt sad. "Are you going to make a statement?"

"Yeah. A way to say fuck off while not saying fuck off," Dabi said. He sighed. "I'm already stressed, I didn't need this shit, too." Sadness was in his voice, disappointment and annoyance as well, but mostly sadness. Keigo had known it would come out eventually, but not this soon. He still felt responsible but wouldn't bring it up again, blame himself. He didn't want to make it worse for him.

"I'll get messages, too. At least you're seen as the hero, not the victim."

"True. I should go, I have a lot of homework." He sounded so tired.

"Okay." I'm sorry. The call ended, and Keigo continued his flight, annoyed, guilty and sad.

-x-

"So, my quirk has come to everyone's attention. Which I didn't want. I have no desire to be a hero, or a movie star or something like that. I will continue to do what I want to do, which is making music and getting an education. I will do with my quirk what I want. I don't know how many I have at the moment, and I cannot name where I found them at. I don't use them illegally, and the quirks I use have not been stolen. I can just duplicate them for myself. There's no point in bitching about me using yours if I do.

"I get that it's overpowered and convenient, but I'm not going to use them for something like being a hero or villain or someshit like that. Any job offers are useless. I'll do what I want, so asking me is useless. I want privacy just like everyone else. Just leave me alone over it. Thank you to the band's fans who have given support, we appreciate it."

The video ended, and Dabi sighed, hunching over. Keigo frowned and walked to him, sitting on the couch beside him, arm around his shoulders. "At least I wasn't expecting anything good from graduation, so nothing is ruined," Dabi grumbled. Toga came into the room with a mug of tea while Tenko already got to editing the video, since he was fine at the editing too and this would be way easier than any of their music videos.

Dabi gratefully took the tea and sipped it. They were all in their new house, everything moved in. Keigo loved it, it was a home already. After Dabi finished his tea, he said he wanted to be alone in his room. They nodded. Keigo went to his own room to write his own statement. Dabi had attracted more attention than he had in this situation they were both a part of.

Keigo was glad the guys who kidnapped him were already put away and none of his fans would murder them. He had some serious crazies mixed in the bunch. When Keigo was going into one of the two bathrooms on the second floor, assigned to Keigo and Dabi while Tenko and Shuichi shared theirs.

When he walked past Dabi's room, he heard him asking, "What's your dad think about it all?" in a grumbled voice. He was talking to Kai then. Keigo licked his lips and put his head down before going to the bathroom to get his preen oil to take some self-care on his wings in his new room.

Looking out the opened curtains, Keigo watched Toga and a double of Dabi that had been doing yardwork bring the extra couch into their studio. Dabi had taken up gardening and so had spent his Saturday shopping at plant stores for seeds and seedlings, soil and other supplies. Keigo thought it was a stress thing, and nobody offered to help him, all assuming the same.

Keigo knew he'd take very good care of the garden he was planting, flowers and vegetables. Half of one side of the lawn with shitty dead grass was now a garden area. He'd also formed a barrier around it, tall but not closed at the top, so no animals could get to it.

There was a knock on the front door, and Keigo went down the stairs, thankful they were wide enough for his wings to be fine, and saw it was Fuyumi bearing a cardboard box. "Hey, everyone!" she said brightly. Keigo knew she looked up to Dabi for him immediately moving out after high school, wanting to do the same, so she was invested in the move and their new place.

"Hey," Tenko said from the desk in the corner of the living room, big enough for two people to sit at. He didn't look up, but Fuyumi wasn't insulted.

"What's in the box?" Keigo wondered. Fuyumi set it down on the coffee table, and broke down the sides to show a very pretty lamp.

"Mom wanted to give it to you guys. She knows the furniture wouldn't really match much at our place, but she wanted at least one thing." Keigo smiled, and picked it up to put it on one of the end tables. It was pretty, and since nothing really matched, it didn't stand out too much. They had not gone all out to buy new furniture that matched, they just bought what they needed. Keigo bought new things like a couch and TV stand, dining room furniture, etc, but the small accents didn't match one bit. Everything else was thrifted or used from their previous homes.

The kitchen was already set up, Dabi having obsessively reorganized the cupboards, but they made sense, so Keigo wasn't bummed. They both agreed to do most of the cooking while teaching the others slowly how to contribute as well. Keigo had printed out a list of dishes they could both make as a sort of menu.

When Dabi came back down and saw Fuyumi there, he smiled and gave her a hug, so much closer to her now that he'd managed to grow up a bit in how he interacted with others. He valued his sister enough to not let her relationship with Enji ruin things.

He was still keeping in touch with Sheri after he moved out, promising to visit even though it would be painful in a sense, to be at a house that was no longer his home. Would never be his home again.

It was sad to hear she'd spent many nights crying in her room until Dabi went in and hugged and spent time with her. Keigo felt bad for Dabi the most, since he was leaving a real family, and wasn't going to be a real part of it anymore. Keigo was leaving his closest friend, but their relationship wasn't demoted just because they didn't share space together.

-x-

Keigo was working on a TV show right now on the side, as a guest character who wasn't in it the whole time. It had been a good distraction for awhile. Tomorrow was Dabi's graduation. He was glad to be away from his classmates who were obsessed with his quirk, which caused him to explode in anger with plenty of obscenities.

All he'd gotten was a light scolding, but his teachers all understood his frustration. Hopefully Dabi's college teachers were the same.

Keigo was eating some of the mini sandwiches provided for lunch, his wings back in his shared camper, feathers locked in a trunk just to keep them safe, when one of the girls closer to his age came over. Keigo smiled to her, knowing she was a nice person. She looked a bit embarrassed.

"What's up?" Keigo asked after swallowing his bite.

"Um, you're good friends with Dabi, right?"

"Yeah…" Keigo said, fluffy brows raised.

"Um, do you think you could, like, introduce us?"

"Oh, Dabi's already in a relationship. He's not really good with strangers, and especially not those interested only in his quirk." He felt a flare of annoyance with her, even though he knew it was safe since Dabi was not interested in women of any kind. Her face fell, and nodded. Keigo felt bad, but had said it in a nice enough voice. "Sorry," he said in a truly apologetic voice.

"It's okay," she said, and walked away, face flaming red. Keigo wondered if Dabi would be asked out now, by people who weren't original fans of their music. He was annoyed enough with people online talking about how hot he was and immediately stopped looking at places that talked about him, personality or appearance. He only wanted to know what they thought of his music, not his or the other three's appearances, though he was the most well known of them.

When he went home, which was currently empty but him, the other four still at their houses for now, he saw someone had moved his hidden trophy from the award ceremony onto a shelf, which was next to the band's YouTube play buttons. Keigo felt a lance of happiness go through his heart, tingling in a way that made him smile.

He wasn't upset about them fishing it out, and knew it had to have been done by Dabi. They put the award near their own, a show of solidarity. That his accomplishment meant just as much as theirs. He wiped his eyes before any tears could fall, and went into the kitchen to make himself something to eat.

The fridge was stocked because there was someone living there now. With five of them, Keigo had bought a second fridge that was by the dining table. He and Rumi went through food fast, five people would go even faster. Keigo was thankful that the other four had stopped mentioning him buying things for them all, as this was now his home and he could add things if he wanted. They just didn't want him buying things for any of them. Which was stupid since they accepted Dabi buying them shit.

He suspected it was either a pride thing or a lack of trust. Keigo needed to build that up with the other three, not just Dabi.

Once he was done cooking himself some food, he washed the dishes and put them back in the cupboards. There was an airhorn taped to the backsplash that would be used to alert the others that food was ready. It was hilarious already. Heading outside, he got out the watering can and watered Dabi's plants. Keigo wondered if they would be changed at all with any quirks.

He called a service while he was there to install a sprinkler system that he thought would be a nice surprise since the lawn really needed it. It was really shitty, and they all planned on sprucing up the backyard. It was big enough for Dabi to land as his chauffeur dragon form, though he would turn himself and those on his back invisible so the neighbors didn't freak, being elderly and all.

The sprinkler system was all set up by the end of the day, and when they turned on, Keigo took a video of it and sent it to his new roomies in a group chat. They were all very happy, not bothered he did this without telling them. It wasn't like it was something bad, and Keigo was paying half the rent right now anyways.

Their landlord didn't give a shit that Keigo was a celebrity, she would charge them the same rate she would anyone else. Since the house was so nice and taken care of, having had the kitchen and bathrooms remodeled, she didn't really like that those living there were all teenagers (Keigo was barely out of his teens) but Keigo signed a contract saying he'd personally pay for anything they did wrong by the time they moved out. She would pay for repairs and all. Maybe he should have told her about the sprinklers.

Well, since they were an addition that would help the value of the house, he was sure she'd be happy and hadn't needed to pay for it. Yeah, he wasn't going to tell her and risk her choosing not to pay for repairs since Keigo could afford it. Though she had to know that.

-x-

Dabi's graduation was today. Keigo was over at his house, where Toga was, Dabi doing her hair in a pretty updo with lots of pins. "How are you so good at it?" Keigo asked curiously, impressed.

"I've been working as a model for a lot of styles for years. Plenty of people doing make up and hair on me. I learned from watching in the mirror," Dabi said in a proud voice. "I won't really have… women in my direct life after next week, but I'll be happy to do your hair," he said to Toga. "If you ever want to look fancy for Ochako."

She giggled excitedly, and Dabi then did her make up that she brought over. Keigo took to ironing their clothes while Dabi worked on her appearance. He put cheap concealer on the dark circles under her eyes, and minimal eyeshadow. She looked in the mirror, and grinned. "I look so pretty!"

"You're always pretty, Toga. Don't let anyone else tell you different," Dabi said, and Keigo's heart clenched. He wanted him to tell him he was pretty, too. He smiled sadly. Once he was done ironing their clothes, Dabi and Toga got dressed. Keigo looked away. "Dude, you saw me shirtless already, I'm just changing my shirt."

"And you saw me in water bras and panties!" Keigo laughed, but didn't say anything of it. Dabi slipped a face mask and gloves into his pant pockets.

"Are those for Kai?"

"Yeah, he's coming. Just to say congrats, he won't be in the crowd or going out to lunch with us. Too many people, and it's not fair for him to ask everyone to wear a mask and not eat," Dabi said casually. Fuck, he was so considerate. Keigo felt shitty for hoping he'd be single soon. Selfish and shitty.

The two soon to be high school graduates were going to pick up Tenko and Shuichi in the car, since they had to do practice for awhile, so Keigo was just going to stay over with Dabi's current family, as he called them. "See you later!" Keigo said with a wave.

"See you," Dabi said, and drove away.

Keigo turned around to see Sheri looking miserable. Enzo and their newest sibling, Toki, who was around Sheri's age, both looked sad, too. "Will he visit us?"

"After a little bit. He needs to adjust to being gone from you guys all the time. But he's definitely not cutting ties," Keigo said. "Want to go out to ice cream with me? I'm buying," he offered. "I'll be in disguise so I don't bring any attention." Enzo didn't want to, he was too sad, and Toki didn't know him much so she didn't want to. Sheri did, so Keigo stuffed his feathers into his oversized backpack and put on a hat and a surgical mask from the box in Dabi's room.

They walked into town in quiet before Sheri asked, bluntly, "Do you like Dabi?" Keigo looked to the side at her. She wasn't too much shorter than he was, having hit a growth spurt. His eyes slid away and to the direction they were walking, to an outdoor mall with an ice cream stand he'd been to before. "I won't tell anybody."

"...Yeah. I like him. As more than a friend."

"Why did you never tell him?" she asked in a surprisingly soft voice.

"By the time I finally figured it out, he was taken," Keigo said sadly. "I wish it was me, and not someone else. I feel shitty for wanting them to end." He was being honest with someone who actually knew Dabi well. Rumi did not.

She looked down and then ahead, and said, "I don't think he'll last with Kai."

"Really? Why not?"

"They're too different. He can't bring Kai to his home because of his phobia, and they can't go out anywhere inside. I honestly feel bad for the guy and how compulsive he is about it."

"Dabi doesn't act like he has an issue with it at all. He's very accommodating."

"I just feel like not being able to touch will be hard for him. Dabi likes to touch. Not being able to with someone in a romantic relationship might be harder. He'll probably keep going as long as he can, but I don't think it will last. You shouldn't give up. He also has to act serious around him… it changed him a bit. He acts more grown up when we're out shopping."

"He still acts the same around us," Keigo said in surprise.

"Then you can see why I don't think his relationship can last."

"Oh…" Happiness, selfish happiness, filled his chest. "Do you think I have any chance?"

"Well, you'll be living with him. I think you can find out. But you gotta tell him you're gay first. He'd never fall for someone he thinks is impossible to be with," Sheri said, smiling up at him. "Good luck, really. I used to hate you for what you did to him, but I like you now, and he forgave you and really cares about you, so I can, too. I mean, he stayed overnight in the hospital with you when you already had your friend there."

"That's when I realized. I should have a long time ago, with that song. That should have clued me in," Keigo whined, pouting a bit.

"Well, at least you figured it out," Sheri said, still smiling. She was in a much better mood, now.

When it was time to go to the graduation ceremony, Keigo still wingless and in disguise, he noticed Dabi was speaking with Rei, but had a tense posture, and it was immediately obvious why. A lot of people were looking at him. Some discrete but failing, others openly staring because of his quirk.

Poor guy.

Keigo noticed Kai, very identifiable with the mask on, standing away quite a bit from anyone else. His brows were furrowed, eyes cast downwards. When he looked back up at Dabi from afar, he looked ashamed. Maybe that he couldn't bring himself to go over into the mass of germ covered people.

An overwhelming amount of sympathy and guilt filled Keigo. Sympathy because he felt sorry that his compulsion stopped him from doing normal things. And guilt because he had someone that cared about him despite the severe phobia, and it might be hard to find many others who were seemingly unbothered by his limitations, and the extra steps that needed to be taken. If Keigo got what he wished for, Kai would no longer have that.

Keigo walked over to Dabi with his foster family, and told him Kai was there. Dabi looked around and then saw him, who gave a small wave. Dabi smiled, put his mask on and hurried over. He stayed a good two feet away but seemed happy to talk to him. Kai's look of guilt went away and was filled with relief, evident even if there was no way to see below his cheeks.

"Be patient," Sheri said to him. "Wait it out, you have all the time in the world." Keigo looked down at her with a grateful smile. Dabi was so lucky to be so loved by so many people. "But, don't sabotage or you'll never win."

"Of course not. If it makes him happy… I want him happy, he deserves it."

"I agree," Sheri nodded. They went over to talk with the Todoroki family, smiling when Natsuo hugged him.

"You grew half a foot since I last saw you!"

"You haven't grown at all," Natsuo said with a grin.

"Shut up. I'm fun sized," Keigo said with a fake air of hurt. Then Uraraka Ochako came over with a smile, waving at them. She was the girl Toga liked, but Keigo was unsure of whether the attraction was returned. He hoped so, it would be nice for Toga to have someone to care about her other than a few friends.

"It's so nice to meet you! Himiko-chan has talked about you a lot." This surprised Keigo, but Uraraka didn't go into detail. She just said that Toga loved talking about her friends, her chosen family. Keigo felt so honored to be included in some way. "Is it okay for me to come over? I know you're covering a lot of the rent."

"Of course it's okay. Toga lives there, too. It's her home, she can bring over who she wants. And you don't seem like the kind of person to leave a mess in your wake." She chuckled and agreed. "Are you a third year, too?"

"Yeah, but I was homeschooled this year. I was pretty injured from a steel beam falling on me. Dabi fixed me up fully. He's really kind, and Toga talks about him even more. He's her best friend. Haha, kind of glad they're both gay or I'd be worried he'd steal her," she giggled. Seemed very sweet.

When the ceremony started, it was just all of the students having their names called, and bowed to their teacher, the diplomas handed to the class reps after everyone had been named. They were put aside, and the representative from each class (there were only four) made a speech. They were pretty boring, but the teens that gave them looked very sincere, so Keigo couldn't think of them as boring without feeling a bit guilty. They worked hard.

Once the principal gave a small speech herself, they were all released, and got their diplomas. Hugging was from everyone, but their friends weren't close to other classmates. Keigo saw Dabi slip a tampon of his usual brand from his pocket and threw it at the head of who Keigo assumed was Geten by physical description before he hurried away through the crowd and to his group. Keigo laughed.

Dabi and his friends all went to the big group, and he looked over Rei and Mei's shoulders and waved goodbye to his boyfriend, who waved back, and left. The large group all went to a buffet restaurant that could seat them all, and had a nice time, though Keigo could tell Dabi was gradually growing sadder and sadder until he stopped talking and eating in general, and just looked like he wanted to leave.

"Do you want to go somewhere?" Keigo asked him quietly. "You don't really look happy."

"Yeah, I wanna go to the pier," Dabi said. Keigo was the first to stand up, and said he wanted to get some fresh air. Dabi agreed. Everyone got the message that he needed to leave, as they noticed him and his change in mood.

"Okay. Be safe," Mei said, clearly knowing they weren't just going outside.

"We'll box up your food for you," Rei offered, and the two left. Keigo got his backpack from the car by using Dabi's quirk to create a key to unlock it, and reformed his wings around the corner, Dabi bringing his own out after taking off his high school jacket. His undershirt had wings holes in the back for him.

They left to go flying, and Keigo said, "You don't need to bring me with you there."

"It's fine. It's more the water that's my safe space. And it's not sunset, usually I sit on the pier at sunset when I come," Dabi explained. He lead Keigo to the place. A rickety old pier that went far out into the calm surf. They landed at the edge, and Dabi took his phone, wallet and keys out of his pocket, removing his shoes.

"Do you want to come down, too? I could make an air bubble."

"Uh, no thanks. I don't like being anywhere I can't get away from."

"I get it. I'll only be down a little bit." Keigo told him to take his time, and Dabi slipped under the water and out of sight. Keigo set a timer on his phone, but knew that was useless since Dabi wasn't holding his breath, he could breathe in the water like air, through his lungs, not any gills. Keigo took his own shoes off and rolled up his jeans to dip his feet in.

He pulled out his phone and watched some YouTube videos while waiting patiently. Dabi stayed under for twenty minutes, and then he climbed out, dripping water before he steam dried. He sat next to Keigo. "I have a question."

"Yeah?" Keigo asked.

"It's about me and Kai." Keigo swallowed. "It's just… I act so different around him than anyone else. I don't care about the no touching shit, it's fine, I had a time in my life where I hated others touching me, even if it's for a different reason completely. I just… I don't know. It's weird. I don't know what I should do."

"What's your question." Don't ask me, please don't ask me, I'm not unbiased, don't ask, please.

"Should I stay with him?" Dabi asked with a conflicted look

Keigo could do it right now. He could tell him he should break up with him. He could do it.

"...Do you enjoy his company?" Dabi nodded. "Do you not like who you are around him?"

"It's just different. I don't hate it."

"If you like being around him, and don't hate who you are around him… then you should keep trying," Keigo said, acting supportive while he felt the burn of tears forming in his tear ducts. "He looked really guilty when I saw him, about not going over. Then he looked really relieved when you came over. You're a really good partner."

Dabi smiled in relief. "Thanks. The others don't really like him even if they've never met. I figured you'd be the most unbiased." Keigo nodded. They went back to the group, Dabi feeling much better while Keigo felt like shit. He was glad he could go home on his own while Dabi was staying one more night at his foster home.

When he got home, he went to his room and cried. He loved Dabi, and he wanted to be with him so badly. But he could never sabotage his relationship for selfish reasons. He wanted Dabi happy, even if it wasn't with him.