-x- Keigo -x-
He'd been completely obvious to Toga about how much he adored Dabi. He'd gotten so flustered and her technique had been perfect. She got him to a blushing mess, talking about how he thought Dabi was pretty and smart and fun. He just hoped that Toga asked all this before Dabi felt the same way, and she was testing the waters.
So when he was flying home, he was nervous, downright scared. What if Dabi didn't ask her and she was just being weird and told him and now he was uncomfortable? When he landed on the back deck, passing through the force field bubble around the property. It had been a fine day at work, but he missed En and Aiko. They were on different movies, and Keigo was just glad they got to work together two more times for two more movies. He was nearly done with this one's filming, then would do all the production parts, photos, interviews for behind the scenes, etc. Then he planned on taking a break to just spend time on him, spend time with his roomies, his family.
He'd called Rumi in a panic that morning, thinking all through the night about if he fucked up. She just told him there was no going back. He worried that she was right. When he landed, he paced a few feet. "It's fine. He wouldn't hate me. It's fine," he insisted in a murmur. He walked through the back door, and saw Dabi with headphones on, cooking. His face was empty, and he was in the cooking zone, so Keigo avoided breaking him out of it.
All he did was sit on his bed in his room, staring at the wall in worry. There was a knock on the door and he was surprised to see it was Shuichi. Keigo thought he liked him the least, and felt it was possibly because Keigo was a heteromorph, too, but his features were human enough to be accepted and idolized. Shuichi had always been treated poorly by non-heteromorphs.
"What's up?" Keigo asked, worried something was wrong.
"You should try and look presentable tonight," he stated. Keigo immediately got to putting on Dabi's favorite shirt, a black tank top, and skinny jeans that Dabi had told him looked good on him before. Shuichi laughed. "I wouldn't have chosen those, but Dabi's a weirdo anyways."
Keigo was getting his hopes up. That whatever Dabi was gonna say wasn't bad since Shuichi would never do something like this, hinting at something important and lying through his teeth. That wasn't the kind of person he was. Keigo hurried into the bathroom to try and brush his hair.
The blow horn from downstairs alerted them to dinner, and Keigo scarfed his down, making himself busy by cleaning the kitchen. His heart was racing madly, and Tenko, his boyfriend and a grinning Toga left to go to their rooms. He was sure Toga at least would be eavesdropping. Keigo went to the couch and Dabi followed, hands in his hoodie pockets, something he did when nervous.
"Um, I think you know what I'm gonna say. They don't exactly make it hard to guess," Dabi said with a half smile, nervous but more confident than Keigo was. "Fuck, I don't know how to say it-"
"I love you." Keigo didn't think before he said it, but didn't have time to fret over being so blunt.
"I love you, too. Well, that was easy," Dabi said, beaming. Keigo rushed forward and grabbed by the hoodie and crushed his lips against his, the dual sensation of Dabi's lips feeling so nice, so unique, nothing like when he kissed for the movies. Dabi kissed just as fervently, Keigo pinning him down on the reclining chair, wings puffed up high.
When they pulled away, Dabi looked happy, but thoughtful. "How long? Have you felt that way?" he asked, brushing a thumb along Keigo's jaw. It was literally so easy to confess to one another. The build up was so, so painful but just saying it and hearing it back had been so simple, just being honest and upfront. That was how they usually were, Dabi especially.
"After you saved me from the kidnappers and spent the night by my bedside. It sucked, cause I found out right after that you were with someone else. I was going to call you to confess and you said you had been on a date with Kai," Keigo answered honestly.
"Why did you tell me to keep being with him, when you probably wanted the exact opposite?"
"You were happy with him, and I want you to be happy. Though I did come home crying afterwards. It wasn't easy," Keigo said with a smile. "Rumi and Sheri both told me to wait and hope you broke up with Kai. I wanted it to be a mutual one, and it was. I was too scared to say anything," he explained.
"Of course Sheri knew was best for me," Dabi said with a laugh. "We've come so far."
"I never thought I'd love the person I tormented."
"You saved me from further torment, you know. If it had been anyone else but you, I don't think I'd have gotten out alive, if at all. You saved me, got your senpai to get me out and then exposed the injustice to the world, sacrificing the career you'd put your blood, sweat and tears into."
"I would never have felt like a hero if I'd left you to rot," Keigo said, thumbing the staples on Dabi's cheeks. They didn't bother him at all, he liked how shiny they were. They appealed to his bird traits, no matter how small and shut away they were. He wouldn't change anything about him. He loved him for everything he was and chose to be.
Dabi kissed along his neck and coller bone. "Can I touch you?"
"Yeah," Keigo said. Dabi was asking for consent and Keigo gave it to him. He gently touched his wings, fingers threading through feathers softly.
"You were making yourself pretty for me," Dabi commented with a smile. "Your wings are all oiled and preened. You've been taking a shower every day." He kissed his shoulder, and drifted his fingers along the closest of his primaries, the wings slowly relaxing from their mounted position.
"I wanted to entice you."
"Sorry, I'm not in love with you because you smell nice," Dabi teased. Keigo's heart squeezed.
"I'm not in love with you because you have shiny bits in your skin and face." Dabi chuckled. He spent the next hour talking about his school day, and Keigo chuckled at the Gym Bros. "You're going to be their nightmare this semester, aren't you?"
"If they instigate it, hell yeah," Dabi grinned.
"You're either the kindest person ever, or a vindictive asshole."
"I'm the best of both worlds."
Keigo was glad the other three just left them alone for the rest of the night, even if Keigo was pretty sure Toga had been listening in from the hallway near her room. When they were both tired, they went to their rooms, not yet ready to sleep in the same bed even if it didn't seem like that much.
Boundaries and baby steps. Keigo didn't want this to be a fling, he wanted a real relationship, and wanted to shower Dabi with all the love he deserved. That didn't mean rushing into everything. But he went to bed happier than he ever had. He couldn't remember feeling more at peace.
He left for work early to meet up for breakfast with the co-stars and rehearse what they were going to say in the interview. Keigo learned that was what good co-stars did. Interviewers would use literally anything said that could be interesting, even if it was a mistake to say. So they answered a laundry list of questions they had acquired from different production interviews, to be as prepared as possible.
It made sense to do it this way and made Keigo feel far more confident that he wouldn't say something idiotic in the interview and not have his request to edit it out be fulfilled.
"You sure are in a good mood," his character's love interest's actress said, though she was six years older than Keigo and just looked young. Most of his co-stars of his character's age were far older than he was, some even in their thirties.
Keigo scratched his cheek. "Something good happened last night," he said with a small smile.
"Ooh, has Takami become a man?" another actor joked.
Keigo gave him a deadpanned look. "It's not like that. I don't want to talk about it." They backed off, thankfully. And due to their diligence and practice, the interview flowed naturally, and it looked like the cast all got along very well when it was all actually practiced. Not that they didn't get along well, but this made them all seem like best friends.
When they watched it played back, they gave each other high fives, and went out for drinks. Keigo bought a soda from a vending machine on their way out and to the bar. It was a nice bar, but Keigo no longer ate food he didn't see made, and he didn't drink from anything without a lid. He didn't bring the mood down for others, it was his choice based on the horror of being drugged and kidnapped.
He'd never risk that, and had all his friends be able to track his phone. En, his girlfriend, Rumi, her girlfriend and his roommates all had access to his location at all times. It made him feel safe. He didn't feel stalked or spied on, as these people could save him if anything went wrong again.
"I'll drive, I don't plan on drinking," Keigo offered when they started to contemplate transportation.
"Good! Thanks, Takami!" He had driven there today, and so they got into his car, which was big enough for four passengers, which were all that could make it tonight. He just hoped none of them vomited in it.
"Condition: I don't want any of you to get black out drunk."
All four assured him they weren't heavy drinkers, and he believed them all. They went to an expensive bar that celebrities went to, and took his soda bottle in with him. Keigo felt so weird being let into a bar/club just because he was an actor. This wasn't how he envisioned his life, but he loved it. He was also glad he didn't worry his friends and boyfriend by having a dangerous job. Having them never know if he'd come home alive, no guarantee by being in such a volatile citation. One small mistake could be the difference between returning home with a smile or in a casket.
He sat at the bar and slowly sipped from his bottle, making sure to never take his hand off of it. The youngest watched their drinks closely, making sure they weren't drugged either. He was tapped on the shoulder by young woman who looked a few years older than Keigo. "Are you not going to drink?" she asked, holding her own fancy drink. Toga called champaign and wine glasses fancy cups drunk by fancy people. Keigo agreed.
"Ah, not a big fan of drinking." It wasn't true as he'd never had a drop of alcohol. He refused to do anything that would put him even an ounce closer to out of control of his body. He swore off of alcohol before even trying it. Not that it smelled good in the first place.
"So you brought soda?"
"Well, it's good soda. Capped bottles are safest," Keigo said with a friendly shrug. He looked back at his co-star's glasses. He kind of wanted to go home and snuggle with Dabi, but he was stuck here until they were ready to leave.
The woman didn't leave, and sat next to Keigo instead. Rumi would definitely think she was hot. Keigo was attracted to a heavily scarred, stapled and pierced man. She wasn't his type at all. "Are you here alone?"
"With my coworkers. I'm the designated driver. I'm watching their drinks to make sure nobody does anything to them," Keigo said honestly. He uncapped his bottle and took another swig. He wanted to go home. He made small chat with her while also paying attention to the drinks, and was relieved once they were finished, untampered.
"Do you live alone?" Keigo could tell from her tone and expression that she wasn't asking in a murder/criminal way. Maybe a romantic way.
"I live with four other people," Keigo said, which made her minutely pout. Even if Keigo wasn't with Dabi, didn't love him, he wouldn't dream of bringing a stranger home unannounced with him in a romance way. It would be rude to the others.
"But you're a celebrity. You won an award, surely you can afford to live on your own."
"I could, but I don't want to. I don't like being lonely," Keigo answered. She looked like she just couldn't believe he'd willingly live with other people when he could live alone and fancy-shmancy. On the inside, he would always appreciate but not be swallowed by the amount of money he had. He'd grown up in poverty after all.
"Keigo, we're ready to leave." They were indeed not drunk, and Keigo was glad there was nobody to vomit in his car.
"Goodbye, miss," Keigo said pleasantly, and walked with them out and to the car. When they were all settled, he said, "I'm glad you guys are responsible drinkers," with a sincere smile of relief.
"Why didn't you order anything? It wouldn't need to be alcohol."
He turned the car on, and backed out of the space after punching in their addresses in the gps screen, setting the fastest way to get to all of their houses. They were all in the rich areas of the city, mostly the apartments. He said, "I don't eat anything I don't see cooked, and I don't drink anything that's not able to be resealed."
"It's a bit paranoid…"
"Not really. I wasn't even drinking when I was drugged and kidnapped. My food was drugged, so I just am as safe as possible," Keigo said bluntly. The mood was ruined and awkward, but he was just being honest. He hated being a liar.
After he dropped everyone off, making sure they got inside, he drove home, tired. When he got back, the four students were at the kitchen table, working on homework, all of them with earbuds or headphones on. This made Keigo feel a bit bummed that he wouldn't be able to do things with them like this.
He got schooling at the Commission, but not to a college level. They'd all be smarter than him. He didn't care that much, but was a bit bummed he wouldn't know things either. It was guaranteed they'd share any information with him if he asked. He wouldn't be seen as stupid. When Dabi looked up, he smiled at Keigo brightly. He smiled back at the look of fondness and love. Happy to see him.
"Dinner is in the fridge. Did you have fun?" This didn't disturb the other three since they had music blaring in their ears.
"Not really. All I did was stare at their drinks to make sure nobody drugged them. This woman was making small talk with me and was super confused I'm not living the bachelor life, alone in a penthouse apartment."
"Yeah, you're weird and room with four college students," Dabi teased. "Maybe you want a young harem." Keigo spat out his drink, choking on it, and Dabi laughed. "Too bad, you're mine alone." Keigo beamed, face red, and heated up the dinner put aside for him. Dabi put the headphones back on and continued with his homework, Keigo reading on his phone. Once Dabi was done with his work, he walked over to the back of the couch, and leaned forward, bent over with his chin resting on Keigo's shoulder. "I didn't know you read fanfiction," Dabi mused. "I bet there are fics for you."
"There are. They were awful. I am forever scarred," Keigo said, truly disturbed by the content he'd consumed about himself.
"So, I did some searching online." Keigo cocked a fluffy brow, wondering what kind of research. "Quirk research. I got a good one. Come to my room with me."
"I finished!" Toga squealed, slamming her pencil down on the table. Keigo didn't see what was next as he went up the stairs. Dabi closed the door behind him, and gestured to the bed, Keigo curious about what quirk it was.
Dabi looked kind of shy, and it was so fucking cute. "So, the quirk is kind of invasive, that I want to use on you."
"Oh? What will the effects be?" Keigo asked.
"It's a surprise. Tell me if it makes you uncomfortable." Keigo was curious but nodded. He scooched back to make room for Dabi, who was hovering over him. "Tell me, and I'll stop."
"Okay," Keigo said. He didn't feel any different, so the mystery quirk hadn't worked. Dabi grazed his teeth along Keigo's neck and an unbearable feeling of pleasure ripped through him. He gasped, and clawed at Dabi's back.
"Okay, little bird?" Dabi asked, stopping to make sure. Keigo nodded harshly. Dabi moved to just trail his fingers along his neck and jaw. The feeling of pleasure was nothing like Keigo had felt before. It wasn't quite sexual, but it was overwhelming, and had his eyes tearing up, panting, the feeling unreal and so new and very welcome.
Dabi was beaming, and leaned down to kiss him, Keigo squeaking, eyes blown wide. He tapped on Dabi's shoulder, who pulled away. The smaller man was sweaty and all of his clothes were sticking to his skin. "What… what the fuck was that?" he asked, catching his breath.
"I sent an agonizing hour searching through porn video descriptions to find something. I wanted to make you feel good, Birdie," Dabi said sincerely. Keigo wiped at the drool and tears, embarrassed but Dabi didn't look an ounce grossed out, he looked very proud. "Don't usually watch porn, but it was worth it."
"Well, you did make me feel good," Keigo said. "Can you turn it off?"
"It only lasts for five minutes at a time, so you should be safe now. That was a complete success for me," he bragged. "Nobody will ever make you feel better than I will."
"I'll make sure of that," Keigo said, sitting up, rubbing his neck and glad he was back to normal. "How was school?" So Dabi laid down next to him on his queen bed and talked about how annoying math was, and that his table mate in english was American and Dabi had trouble communicating with her, so would try not to sit next to her again.
"Is it wrong to ask you to give me some hickeys tomorrow morning?" What a weird request. "I want to piss off the Gym Bros."
"Of course that's what it is, you want to be petty."
"Did you expect me to be any different?"
"No, I was betting on that. Sure, I'll give you some hickeys." Dabi grinned triumphantly.
-x-
"You said what?" Keigo asked in shock.
"What? I declared war on the Gym Bros. I made sure they were the ones to start it so I can't be accused of sexual harassment."
"So, lemme get this straight, they called you gay, you said I have a bigger dick than theirs - which you have no idea if its true - and then when they insulted your dick, you claimed it would be much more interesting with a ladder going through it?!"
"Haha, yeah, it was pretty funny. I think I shorted out Midoriya's brain, poor guy."
"Oh my god, dude. That's like, going nuclear in trying to make them uncomfortable."
"I only said it because they were bullying the skinny guys. I may have had it all ready to say, all perfectly in line to be delivered, but they started it," Dabi said in a voice claiming no responsibility. Keigo was kind of worried about any consequences, but none came so far. Dabi wasn't worried, sure that the Gym Bros wouldn't report him for it.
Well, it wasn't like he'd said anything about them, it was all bluntly, honestly talking about his own preferences. Maybe they probably didn't want to hear that, but if they were going to compare dicks, Dabi was going to make sure he was the winner.
-x-
Dabi had Keigo sitting in his lap horizontally, his wings on the left side and legs over the right. Dabi was snuggling him close and rocking him back and forth slightly while Keigo had his eyes scrunched shut. Why did all his abusers come out of jail? There was no sighting of his abusive father, but he was still worried getting home in the dark sometimes in the car.
And now his manipulative and heavily abusive handler was getting out of jail on good behavior. It didn't make sense, she only had three years in prison after all she'd done. Yes, she wasn't one of the highest up, but she still abused Keigo for almost ten years. She made him torture Dabi, the man holding him and planting little, soothing kisses on his shoulder, quietly singing to him through said kisses.
After Keigo cooled down, Tenko made hot chocolate for him and brought it over, all of them showing support in some way. "You have a restraining order against her, and I doubt anyone would like to return to jail," Dabi said calmly, running his fingers through Keigo's unruly blonde hair. He sipped the surprisingly delicious hot chocolate.
"Logically, I know… But I'm still scared. I'm just glad there's not really anything she can, y'know, put out there. I already said everything," Keigo said in relief. He was so glad she couldn't just come out and try to ruin him. He told the truth, and while it was awful for what felt like an eternity, it was ultimately the best choice. Being honest from the very start was the right one.
"Well, we'll keep you safe. I can always track your phone again," Dabi said, pushing a lanky strand of hair out of Keigo's face. "She's not your boss anymore, and if it comes to light who she is and what she looks like, the woman that abused a very well liked actor when he was a child, well, it wouldn't go in her favor. Just like how Tomie tried and failed," he explained. Keigo took another sip of his hot chocolate and nodded, knowing they were right, he was safe at home and in public, and he was almost always around others unless he was on a flight.
Really, she wouldn't be stupid enough to approach him when he had restraining orders on everyone from the HPSC. He wondered where all the Atlas program kids went. They had to be pretty damaged, the young ones. Keigo was the second oldest, and the second to be in the program. Lady Nagant was the first. He still didn't know her real name, and hoped she was safe and enjoying freedom somewhere.
When they went to bed pretty late, Keigo asked Dabi to sleep with him. "Sure, pretty bird, let me get changed." Keigo was loving the nicknames. Kei, Birdie, little bird, pretty bird. Out of them all, he of course had the least offending pet names, though the others didn't really give a shit about his names for them since he made it very clear he cared or them and didn't mean what he said. He was just filling his role as the jackass in the group.
Keigo got changed into more sleep clothes, and got extra pillows and a blanket. Dabi came in, and Keigo made sure to scrub his teeth and put dissolvable stripes of mint on his tongue. He was definitely going to tell Rumi in the morning that he got to sleep with Dabi. He always kept her updated in his new relationship, always encouraging him. He sometimes missed living with her.
Dabi slept on his back and Keigo on his stomach to stretch out his wings. Dabi trailed fingers along his feathers, up and down each of the longest, making his way from the tips to those nearer to his back, not caring that it was draped over him, and Keigo fell asleep to the ministrations, his feathers sensitive and very pleased with the soft stimulation.
He woke up in the morning before Dabi, and turned his head to see he was on his side, mouth barely open while he slept quietly, face so relaxed and looking so innocent in a way. So young. Keigo ran a hand through his hair lightly, glad his talons were filed down so he touch him safely. He didn't wake up, but his nose scrunched a bit, and Keigo smiled.
Keigo laid there for awhile, not wanting to wake him, but then their alarms went off and Keigo shut his eyes to not let him know he was staring. He looked at him with a smile. "You were watching me, weren't you?"
Flushing, Keigo nodded. Dabi chuckled. He leaned forward and kissed Keigo's forehead. They both got up and ready for the day, Dabi taking the shower first. Dabi then went to school with the others, leaving Keigo with a mouse version of Dabi in his pocket, so in case something happened, he had a double of Dabi who was in control of all of his quirks.
It made him feel incredibly more safe than on his own. It was thoughtful. Throughout the day, Dabi's mouse was in his pocket, the cast taking the last photos of the production.
He'd thought celebrities were assholes before working with them. Maybe it was because he wasn't with any super duper actors who everyone knew. Or maybe it was just that Keigo was a nice person and they didn't have any reason to bully him. Besides Karin and a few older actors who thought he was too young to be where he was in the profession.
When asked if he had another role lined up, Keigo honestly said he wanted to take a break from it. He was relieved that only a very small amount thought it was stupid for him to "quit" so early on. He didn't say anything, just gave a shrug, like "well, what can you do?", but everyone else were nice and said they had either done one themselves or had contemplated it.
Sometimes Keigo wondered how he would have been treated if he continued trying to be a hero. Would they hate him for what he'd done? Or how old he was, more inexperienced on the field? What if he was a liar, a fake persona? Would they not like him? Best Jeanist had been nice. Keigo wanted to thank him, but worried he'd be disappointed in putting any work into him only for him to not become a hero.
Though, Keigo thought he would also be happy he'd found peace and happiness in his life.
What would everyone think of him dating Dabi? Well, they wouldn't care as much if it were Dabi, but Touya. The person he'd hurt so badly. Well, it would never come out. If it did, it would look very bad for both of them. At least they had Dabi's two families' support, as he'd told them happily, just like Keigo had gushed to Rumi.
And he wondered what the general population would think of him being gay, not interested in women. At least, none so far. He could think they were pretty, but nothing more than that. But nobody compared to Dabi in his mind.
He drove to the grocery store and went in to buy some brownie mix, his wings in his backpack. He managed to get in and out without being recognized, which was a great success. On his way back home, he was surprised to see Enji directing some people on an expensive yard. It was actually on their street, down a bit from their home.
Keigo pulled over a few houses down and twisted around to look out the rear window. His windows were tinted to keep privacy for him from fans and paparazzi. Enji did not have expensive clothes on. It looked like he had made his way up the ladder in the landscaping business. He looked back to being more muscular.
Keigo watched for a bit, and then went home. He parked the car behind Dabi's, and hurried inside. Dabi and Toga were on the living room floor surrounded by fabric and two sewing machines, working for their fashion class. Keigo sat on the couch after taking his fancy jacket off, hanging it beside Dabi's edgy coat that he'd added white stitches to to look even more extra, and, Tenko's trenchcoat, Spinner's hoodie and Toga's yellow sweater.
"Ouch!" Toga yelped.
"Stab yourself again?" Dabi asked in a bland voice.
"Shut up," Toga grumbled.
"Enji is down the street working on a yard," Keigo said bluntly, getting straight to the point. "Wanna pop some popcorn and watch?" Dabi and Toga grinned, and she ran upstairs to get the other two. They all dressed, put sunglasses on, and Dabi duplicated one of the sun recliners that were usually at pools.
They walked with them down the street, and then set them up on the sidewalk, putting their sunglasses on, and eating popcorn. Keigo was in disguise. Enji eventually looked over when his workers pointed the spectators out. Dabi grinned a nasty grin, stuffing a handful of popcorn into his mouth.
Enji looked sour and embarrassed, and then turned away. He had to feel the eyes on his back. The five were assholes for a good half hour before they got hungry. They folded up the chairs and walked back, laughing. Keigo was entertained as well. "Good source of entertainment, Kei. You fit in with the assholes."
"Speak for yourself," Shuichi said.
"C'mon, you can't say that wasn't satisfying," Dabi replied.
"No, I can't. It was funny."
"Damn straight." Keigo giggled.
-x- Dabi -x-
"Glad we have Dabi here," Toga said, looking out the doorbell camera. "There's a lot of them."
"We should throw food over the walls at them," Dabi stated, carefully measuring a strip of fabric. Their fashion class was telling them to make a female article of clothing. The sizes didn't need to be accurate, as it was practice and likely that they would be impossible to wear for any sized woman. Dabi had a model, though, so he felt he was doing alright. Well, one of his doubles in the form of a woman. He now only had three days of work a week so he had time to do homework and normal adult things, like shopping and stuff. And spending more time with Keigo, who finally was on his break and spent his days when the others were at school trying new things. New crafts and such.
"No, we shouldn't. I have a look to keep up," Keigo said, feeling very guilty that his house location had been found. Dabi and Toga pouted, while Shuichi and Tenko agreed, they wanted to all do something petty.
The only reason they weren't freaking out or angry was because of Dabi's quirk. Not only could they not get anywhere close, couldn't even touch the gate since Dabi expanded the bubble by six inches, but he'd also muted the area of anything besides sirens. He was so proud of the fucking mastery of his quirk. It made life in general so much easier.
"Well, what if we signed the things, so it wasn't from you," Toga suggested. "They're the ones being assholes."
"I could short out their cameras. Just need to find an EMP quirk," Dabi mused. "Though it would probably fuck up the cars or some shit."
Keigo laughed. "They'll be gone by morning, and maybe you can widen the bubble past the cars and our boundaries to keep people with cameras out," he said. It was pretty late, so after Dabi had done an extra measurement of the bust, and saw it was too small and he'd need to change the body shape of his model.
When he offered Toga her own model, she refused. "If I do too good on the first assignment, she'll expect too much!" was her excuse, which was valid. Dabi wanted to do his best, though, even if it set the bar too high. He wanted to prove he could be in the class as the only guy. He wanted to show he was taking it seriously, and not possibly just there for the girls. Which he clearly wasn't.
They turned off the lights of the house, and headed up to bed, where Dabi was now sleeping in Keigo's with him every night. Keigo was fine with rain sounds playing in the background, always the one to fall asleep first, especially when Dabi stroked his wings. He could take his wings off to sleep, but he kept them on with Dabi. He didn't know why and didn't ask, as he liked it. It felt like Keigo was the one protecting him.
Keigo had a Dabi accompany him at home even though it was the safest place he could be, just to keep him feeling protected. He liked the alone time, so Dabi's double mostly did gardening or stuff upstairs. He may be a double, but he could get bored.
In the morning, Dabi walked out of the house while brushing his teeth and extended the area to stop paparazzi from getting close to the house. There was no way to park in front of their area, now, so their cars could get out easily. They could deal with this issue, and didn't blame Keigo, everyone in the house appreciated him and liked his company. And the fact he helped them pay for rent was good.
They all helped towards rent with paychecks, no matter if it was little they contributed. The money situation wasn't organized but it worked somehow.
-x-
Dabi slammed the ball down as hard as he could without using a strength quirk during his spike. That was his favorite spot to play. It was the most aggressive one. He was also good at serving. So, basically, he liked the moves that were him not passing to someone else. When they won the match, Dabi gave a high five to his five team mates.
Dabi was always desired on the teams, though the Gym Bros hated him. Both because he'd improved so much and the fact he made them uncomfortable when they wanted it the other way around.
When he finally got his nips pierced, actually backing off from wanting to do anything to his dick, the Gym Bros looked disgusted, while the others just looked awkward or laughed at the three frat guys. Well, there were no fraternities at the community college, but they sure acted that way.
When Dabi had taken his shirt off in front of Keigo the night he'd gotten them in secret, Keigo had just stared and then looked away with a blush.
"Nice, Dabi," the coach said. "Rotate positions!"
After class, Midoriya always walked to the parking lot with him where his mom picked him up. He was embarrassed about that, that he couldn't drive and didn't have a car, but Dabi didn't think anything wrong with it. It's not like he was a 30 year old dude, he was still a teenager.
Midoriya's most common conversation starter had to do with heroes or asking Dabi questions about his quirk. It was kind of annoying, but he understood someone who was quirkless probably was in even more awe. Dabi was just glad the walk to their cars was short and he didn't need to talk about it much.
He was a nice guy, but not the kind of person Dabi would hang out with outside of class. At least he had a friend there, though, he wasn't completely alone.
When he drove himself and his friends home after stopping at a Starbucks for drinks, they saw many cars parked right outside of their bubble. They couldn't get anywhere near their parking spots. It was funny. Dabi pulled in behind Keigo and they got out with their drinks and backpacks.
They were left alone, and found Keigo making paper mache, his newest attempt at a hobby.
"I've written a song. We haven't put one out in a couple months. Also a video idea," Dabi said once they were all comfortable. His band mates grinned, excited to make some music. "Think you could write the music?" he asked Shuichi, who nodded, and their process began. Consulting the heteromorph about the tone of the song, then the editing of the melody when a part of it didn't sound as good as it looked on paper.
Keigo watched it happily, even if he couldn't contribute. He did ask to take photos of the process, since they were uncomfortable with a video in their safe space. It took a week to get the song set up, and then they did the planning for the video. Dabi laid out his idea, as the song was about the cycle of abuse in relationships, though he was lucky enough to escape his and treat Keigo how he deserved to be treated. Dabi may have a bad attitude sometimes and be petty, but he wasn't abusive or mistreated his loved ones.
Once the plans were outlined, Dabi started to work on incorporating the necessary quirks for their image in the video. He needed his double, transform, invisibility and plain acting skills. Those were some of the ones he used the most, so learning to use them in complete planned harmony was pretty easy.
After that, they set up the backyard, the camera dollies and background, which was a black drape that would cover the whole frame. Keigo was allowed to film this. They agreed to put it out there as a behind the scenes, as Dabi's quirk wasn't exactly a locked up secret. It would be interesting for their fans to see. They didn't really engage much with them, so sending this out would hopefully appease them in some way.
The League fans actually didn't riot when they disappeared for months, as they were in college, and most of their fans were college aged or just out of it, so they sympathized that they were busy. Though they'd had all summer to do it, they just didn't and that was fine. It wasn't like people were paying for their music, so they had no reason to react to impatience of listeners. They made no promises and so none needed to be upheld.
Another reason they refused to be signed by any record label or something like that. There was no way they'd give up their freedom to have some asshole boss them around about their own music and schedule.
Dabi had created a hulking man, who just looked like an angry, abusive man (didn't look like Enji), a shorter, thinner woman, and a small child, then another young woman and a handsome man and then him being aged up, and another young woman was next.
"Ready?" Those in the line turned invisible, Dabi's angry looking man the only one in view. The camera was fairly close, and tracking slowly to the side and along with Dabi's pace. He gave a thumbs up that it could start. Tenko turned on the stereo, and Dabi began.
This version of the man had a beer bottle that he threw at the wall on the far left, since the camera was panning to the right, and was red face and angry. He turned around, and his wife character appeared, happy until he grabbed her shoulder in an abusive way. Then he faded away until the hand was all that was left, and she turned miserable. A child character appeared, and she got on her knees and cried onto the shoulder, turning invisible slowly until even her hair disappeared.
The child stood up, walked a pace as Dabi had her age up to her early twenties, and then a young man who was the same body type as her father, and looked angry. She turned around and mimed crying, he grabbed her shoulder as she disappeared, and then he threw a beer bottle at the right side.
"Okay, stop!" Tenko said, the camera in its rightful place. They hurried over to the laptop on a folding table and watched it, Keigo recording them from behind on his phone. They weren't happy with it, and did it a second time. The winged man stopped the video after the second try.
"It's so great and thoughtful," Keigo said quietly. "I'm glad you broke out of that cycle." Dabi wrapped his arms around Keigo's waist.
"I'll never hurt you," he promised.
"I believe you."
They posted the song with no video first, and then a few hours later, added the music video, which had a very sad, dreary atmosphere to it, as it should. Then they posted the behind the scenes and photos on their Twitter page, rarely used and pretty inactive at the moment. Dabi was really proud of their videos. He may be the only one used in the music videos, but writing the lyrics was the easiest part. And they all worked hard with the instruments, all playing the parts.
Like a well oiled machine. That was a good way to describe it.
A few days passed and the video racked up millions of views and their behind the scenes was retweeted an insane amount. They hadn't expected it to blow up this big, bigger than any of the ones they had before, even the one made for Keigo, which had been the one with the most views out of all of them.
It felt nice, and reinvigorated them to continue their music at any chance they were able. Things were great! Until they weren't.
-x-
Dabi was very sure he was being followed. He had driven out to the outskirts of town to stop at an Udon shop that they all loved to eat from. The van behind him had been following for a good fifteen minutes. He didn't stop at the shop and started driving straight to the police station, on the phone with them as he did so. It was annoying because he was craving Udon right now.
Keigo was sick and Dabi didn't want to cook or order out. He was just about to get to the first busy intersection before he heard a loud bang, the car swerved, the tire blown. The other back one did, too. He twisted the steering wheel to try and not flip, but it happened, and the car flipped twice, down the side of the road in a small ditch.
Fucking assholes ruined his car! He was dazed, and unclipped the seat belt, keeping one arm on the roof of the car to balance before he flopped down out of the seat. He was covered in blood from glass and metal shards impaling him. He kicked the door open, and just as he was climbing out, something was shot in his eyes and he couldn't see.
He used his super senses to fight back and nail a guy in the face, kicking their leg in with a scream before there was a canister of gas sprayed that he wasn't fast enough to react. One inhale got him, and he was out. He collapsed forward, and was dragged into the van on the side of the road, hands cuffed with quirk suppressors.
A potato sack was put on his head, and he was thrown in the back of the van. They booked it before police got there.
When Dabi woke, it had been over an hour, and he had no idea where he was. He wriggled a bit, but found he was weak, and dizzy. There was an IV in his arm, no doubt pumping drugs into him. He was still covered in staples and scars, so his quirk wasn't suppressed. At least not fully.
The sack was pulled off his head, and the lights blinded him. He was scared, as he could die. And he was weak right now. They thought he couldn't use his quirk right now. Dabi couldn't reveal that he could. Not yet, he had to figure out how to get out safely, having no idea what these peoples' quirks were.
Why would they take the sack off and allow him to see them and their quirks? They were idiots. "You… wrecked mah car," he growled, glaring. He was scared, but refused to look the part. His eyes felt heavy. His ears felt like there was cotton balls in them.
Dabi was gagged, a dirty, nasty washcloth was balled up and shoved into his mouth and duct taped to his cheeks. He tested the restraints, and felt them for a key hole, and found one. It would be easy to get out of them. "We want your quirk." Dabi narrowed his eyes, but probably just looked sleepy.
He didn't know there was any way to get rid of a quirk besides what happened to Tenko. He was injected with quirk suppressor drugs right after getting his quirk to eradicate it before it fully developed. It hurt a lot of people but he didn't have long for using it. But he didn't know if there was a way to take them away.
Well, he sure as hell wasn't going to let them try. He spontaneously combusted in blue flame, burning the chair beneath him and the duct tape off of his face. He erupted slime from his hand and filled it in the keyhole and then hardened it and snapped them off. "What the hell?!" they shouted about the quirk suppressant.
Wait, was it? If so, Dabi should not be able to use his powers. It happened to him before. When he was tortured at the Commission, they used the same types of cuffs - probably much better quality - and he'd continued to regenerate, though none of his others had worked. Not that he had good practice then.
Dabi incapacitated all of them, shattering their legs so they couldn't go anywhere. He left the building, put a bubble around it so they couldn't get out. He tucked the cuffs into a pocket, and grew wings. He wobbled while flying for help before he couldn't hold himself up anymore and crashed on a roof, knocking shingles down.
It was nighttime and dark out. The houses were okay quality, he wasn't in the slums. He slid down it and fell into a garden, breathing labored. Of course the people who lived there came out. Dabi looked at them, and managed to ask they call the police. They seemed to assume he was a druggie of some sort, which made sense, he was filthy, bloody, and was definitely not all there, as well as his usual off-putting appearance.
He was thankful that an ambulance came as well. He was picked up, slowly retracting his wings for easier transport. He had an oxygen mask put on him, and murmured that villains were in the big brick building. Then he passed out.
When he woke up, he was being wheeled into the hospital. He hated this, he'd never actually been in a situation quite like this. Never, ever been hurt enough to be landed in the hospital. When he got set up, they took blood tests to find out what kind of drug was pumped through him, and it was a common one and they had an antidote for it.
All his other bloody wounds had closed, so he wasn't in too bad a shape. He gave them the number to call, which was Keigo's, who answered in a panic. Dabi's car flipped and his body wasn't found, and he hadn't appeared anywhere else when he definitely would have called for help. Not to mention he assumed the two back tires looked like they'd not blown on accident. Someone did that.
It didn't take long for Keigo to rush in, but Dabi was sitting up, looking fine but being dirty. Most of the blood was wiped up. "Kei, I got kidnapped again," Dabi said in pure annoyance, hiding his obsessive thoughts about why the cuffs didn't work. Was something wrong with him? Keigo rushed him and hugged him close, running a hand up and down his back.
Dabi shed a few tears from the stress he'd been in, and how scary being drugged had been, but didn't sob or anything. He just hugged Keigo tightly. When the doctor came in and saw them, she didn't comment on Keigo, who moved aside and tried to make his wings take up less space. Dabi got many checks and was patient though annoyed inside, and tried to not show it.
He was deemed just fine, all the drugs were out of his system, and any exterior wounds were long gone. Keigo let out a huge sigh in relief. "You're free to go. The police are waiting to speak with you, however."
"Figured," Dabi said. He had nothing, his phone was probably shattered to bits like his car, and his wallet and keys were left behind. They left the room holding hands, not caring who saw, both coming down from being terrified in their own ways. The public could go fuck themselves, both of them needed the touch.
When they got outside, they planned on flying home as it was much faster than taking any sort of lift. Dabi was so irritated about needing to buy a new car. He would accept Keigo's help with that, but at least he had insurance on it to help somewhat. There were police cars and a few officers having a smoke that had to be unallowed so close to the building.
"Dabi, right?"
"Yeah," Dabi sighed. "Did anyone go to the building?"
"Yes, but we can't get inside with whatever barrier there is." Dabi really didn't want to deal with this tonight, but those guys could die from their injuries if they got severely infected. Dabi didn't give a shit over them and their health and safety, but didn't want a big deal out of it.
"We'll fly over and wait for you and take the barrier down," he sighed. The police were wary of him going there himself if he wanted to do more to the enemies, but Dabi and Keigo left before they were told not to. Landing in front of the building, Dabi and Keigo waited, Dabi sitting on the ground with his knees up and head hunched over.
"Dabs, what happened?" Keigo asked softly, stroking through his dirty hair. He really was dirty in many places.
"They wrecked the car, drugged me and brought me here, and then said they wanted to steal my quirk. I beat the shit out of them and tried to fly away but crashed and had someone call for help. But, Kei, I was locked in quirk suppressors. They didn't work at all." He pulled them out of his jacket pocket, which had a lot of tears and rips in it.
Keigo held them, and attempted to control his quirk, release feathers. It didn't work, and he handed them back. The moment they weren't touching, he could control his power again. Dabi held it, and lit his fingers on fire. He roughly raked his hands through his hair, and Keigo sat with him, leaving gentle kisses on his face. Why was Dabi unaffected by the quirk cuffs? How did he end up with this one in the first place, there had been nothing like this in his family. He knew that.
When the police came, he let down the walls and all of them were put in ambulances for their broken legs. Dabi was questioned, but the story was pretty simple and straight forward. He said they kept him in a zip tie. He might get in trouble for this later, but right now, he didn't want anyone to know. Keigo supported him and didn't say anything of it either.
They then flew home, and Dabi hugged his worried friends, Toga crying. "I'm okay," he said softly. "No injuries and the drugs are gone." Uraraka had come over to support Toga because Dabi had been missing over three hours, so he had been unconscious for longer than he thought.
Well, it made sense because the place he was taken to was pretty far from where his car was left, empty and demolished in a ditch. He took a shower, and went to bed. Even if someone went out for the Udon, he wasn't hungry anymore. Keigo gave him some time alone and then went up to sleep, too. He slept on his side tonight, both wings laying behind him, but having a fluffy pillow under his currently top wing so it had something to rest on in that position. Dabi snuggled up to him, chest to chest, and fell asleep.
In the morning, Dabi was stressed. He had to go to class and then deal with his car and the insurance, and they weren't going to reimburse him. Dabi didn't need it, he would pay for it and Keigo pretty much begged to help, so he just let it go. He didn't want to go through hoops and just stress himself out more.
Dabi had taken Keigo's car to get them to school and agreed to keep doing that until he got a replacement car. Same make and model, but not brand new. He was down all day, tired, confused, and then angry that photos were taken of the two at the hospital, holding hands and just generally, definitely coming across as a couple.
The look of concern and care in Keigo's eyes at the tired, beaten looking Dabi was clear enough that they were more than friends. Keigo didn't really care. He wouldn't have not acted like that just to keep their relationship secret.
But already there was backlash about it. Not much so far, but it was there. Posts on Twitter calling him a fag, then the dissolving of girl's lead fan groups. Keigo still said he didn't care. Dabi just felt guilty about it, and was really depressed.
He did have a plan, and asked or input from his friends, who he told the situation with the handcuffs. They supported it, so Dabi tracked where Eraserhead lived by finding a profile for him online, though it was old and he might have moved by now. He did work at UA, but that was irrelevant. They didn't want to see him for his job, only his quirk.
Dabi and Keigo flew to his address, and Dabi hoped he didn't send them away for being nosy. He really just wanted to see if a quirk that erases quirks (all but permanent heteromorphs in the case of Shuichi) would work on him. When they landed, it was at a time school should be out, but not dinner time.
His apartment was pretty cheap looking, but wasn't in a terrible place. It just didn't have those amenities. They landed on his floor and walked to his door. Dabi knocked on it a few times, and with his enhanced sense of sound, could tell there were two people there. The door opened and showed Present Mic, though his hair was in a pony tail and he wasn't wearing his get up. Dabi remembered wanting his quirk to find online, but decided against it.
"Can we help you?" he asked curiously, looking to recognize both of them. Keigo should be obvious since he was in the hero scope once, made a big blow up with the Commission, so of course two working heroes would recognize him.
"Is Eraserhead home?" Keigo asked pleasantly.
"Why?" He sounded more curious than suspicious.
"I just want to see his quirk. Not to take it or anything, but… it's a long story, I just want him to use it on me," Dabi said, sounding upset and looking so as well. Present Mic opened the door wider, looking pitying at the distressed teenager. That's what he was, barely out of high school, which they both taught. Keigo squished his wings in and Dabi followed. It was very small inside, but cozy. Dabi did his best not to look around.
Present Mic put some tea on, and went into another room and got who Dabi assumed was his partner or close friend. Eraserhead came out, looking tired, maybe having been taking a nap. He looked at Keigo in surprise, and then to Dabi. "What is this about?" he asked. Dabi was glad he didn't ask how they knew where he lived, because it could seem very invasive and he didn't want to be kicked out.
"I want you to try and erase my quirk," Dabi said bluntly.
"Oh," he said in surprise. Dabi bit his lower lip, teeth digging into the purpled skin. Keigo rubbed his back. Dabi lit his hand on fire, the blue flames he'd once claimed to everyone was his only quirk, and which he pretended he couldn't control. Eraserhead used his power, and Dabi's hand stayed on fire.
The blonde hero in the kitchen dropped the tea cup, but it clattered, didn't shatter. It was still loud and broke the silence.
"Thanks," Dabi said in a empty voice, and stood up to leave.
"Are you sure you don't want to have some tea?" Present Mic asked.
"No… I just want to go home," Dabi said. "But thanks. Sorry to intrude." He gave a small bow, and he and Keigo left, Eraserhead following them out and saying they would say nothing about this. Dabi thanked him again, and he turned into a cat. Keigo got the jist, and held him to his chest protectively as he flew them back home, making Dabi feel safe and loved.
The next step was to get access to an x-ray machine or x-ray quirk and check his toe. What the fuck.