-x- Keigo -x-

Keigo had to admit, getting hate from people did not outweigh the happiness of his LGBT+ fans. While he hadn't outed himself on purpose, he didn't deny that they were a couple. He wasn't going to make a statement or anything, but he did change his Twitter bio from "single and not looking" to "in a committed relationship", so it was definitely showing he acknowledged the fact it was known.

Most of the League's fans were young adults and teens, but those who didn't approve and were noisy were the reason all four of them said they were in gay relationships. So their band was 100% LGBT+, even if that wasn't the reason they formed it. Their fanbase also was swarmed with members from the community.

And now their neighbors who were online at all knew all the young people from down the street were gay and living together. Keigo could only imagine old lady rumors about that.

But Keigo wasn't too distracted by all that, he was worried over Dabi. He was growing paranoid. Keigo had found an old Commission doctor that had been annexed from his position after he attempted to help Keigo regrow his talons and tail because having them removed had been painful and traumatizing.

He got in contact with the man and found that he worked as a pediatrician now. He'd been working here for over ten years. Dabi wasn't a child but it was easy enough to have his foot x-rayed. Keigo trusted the man after talking with him for awhile. He was good at keeping secrets at least.

No matter how freaked out Dabi was about this, he still was keeping up in school and had finished the dress that he got 100% on and it was going to be used in the demonstration box for that semester in the hallway outside of the classroom. The fact that he made that dress and was clearly there for the class itself paired with everyone now knowing he was gay made him much more approachable by the girls in his class.

He'd already been obnoxiously open as being gay in his volleyball class, so it changed nothing.

On the day Keigo had scheduled with the doctor, they arrived by his car, him driving, in disguise completely. Different hair, contacts, different skin color via make up and wingless. His eyebrows were pressed down, too, as those were very distinct. Dabi exited the back seat in the body of a 9 year old boy with a bad attitude. Keigo walked inside with him, and when they were called, Dr. Mori saw them to his room. They immediately went to the next door to be x-rayed. The table Dabi sat on was usually for children, but he fit fine.

"Thanks for doing this. I know we haven't seen each other in a long time, so you're being very generous," Keigo said, Dabi silent and brooding.

"I was ecstatic when you freed yourself from the Commission. They were corrupt child abusers. I hated to leave, even though I was unable to care for any of you long term."

"Well, just having you there to tell us our injuries were valid and it was fine to cry in private really helped me, at least. I'm sure it helped the other kids, too," Keigo explained sincerely.

"Have you had this done before, Dabi?"

"No, I've never been x-rayed. I've only been to the doctor once or twice. I have a regeneration quirk."

"Ah, that's right. The HPSC would have loved to get their hands on you." Keigo's eyes flicked to Dabi, knowing that they had gotten him, only failed completely. But Dabi didn't react, he just nodded. He took his boots and socks off and rolled up his pants. Each foot was x rayed, and he results came back very quickly.

Dr. Mori put them up on a board, and they saw that Dabi should be quirkless. The definition of telling if someone was quirkless was having two joints in the pinky toes. Dabi did indeed have that. He hunched over his seat and was taking deep breaths.

"I would suggest, if you wish to pursue this for more information, you speak with a quirk medical specialist. Your power may be a mutation of the quirk gene. This doesn't mean you are not human or anything like that, you could just have something mixed up. After all, that's how quirks came to be. Genetic mix ups," the doctor explained. "Within the Commission, I worked with other specialists and there were those who worked with quirks and rooting out those that would eventually be seen as useless.

"I don't know if she's still practicing, but if she is, that may be the right route to go. Try not to panic about this. I will tell nobody of this, and if I do, Keigo can point out to the public that I worked fo the Commission, which is looked down on."

Dabi looked at him with a hopeless look, but said, "Thank you." He wrote down his old colleague's name and profession, and handed the small card of information to the teen.

"It may also be a good time to consult your family. See if they have anything abnormal that could have lead to this surprise." Dabi nodded, and turned back into the little boy form. He and Keigo bowed in sincere thanks. They walked out and to the car, Dabi getting in front seat and only changing back once they were away from the building.

"Dude was really nice. I can see why the Commission fired his ass," Dabi stated, looking out the window. "I'm such a mess, I'm sorry. So stupid, I actually started to think I was some alien or some shit but then he mentioned genetic mix ups and I feel a lot better."

Keigo smiled, happy to hear that. "Sometimes I like to picture the president, sitting in jail with a newspaper or TV, and finding out the treasure trove that is your quirk, and they just ruined it. When we were apart, at the very beginning, and I found out you had multiple quirks, I was so confused as to what their mission was? How did they know when not even your family did? I don't think there's any way to find out that isn't asking madam ex-president. I just hope she realizes it was her fault for the downfall."

He didn't notice he was grinning in the same manner Dabi did when he was being a shithead. "Revenge is a dish best served cold," Dabi mused, smiling. Then he looked back out the window. "I should talk to Rei about this, ask her to ask any family if they have some rare disorder or some shit. It's too bad I can't get Enji's side of the family, though. Not that any of his side of the extended family besides his cousins would ever admit to not being bodily perfect.

"Even just Fuyumi getting sick one day… I remember hearing Enji on the phone with our shitty grandparents, them scolding him for allowing her to stay home. It was so stupid, so painfully stupid and prideful. I like to be mostly confident in myself - most of the time - but that level of entitled pride is just so ugly."

"Rich people gonna rich."

"Says a rich dude." Keigo laughed. "Though you definitely weren't born rich. If you married me, and I was still part of the family - Enji's side, if we were all together - they'd always see you as the street rat you were born, not who you've made yourself into."

"Aw, you want to marry me?"

"I ain't gonna be your child bride," Dabi said, and Keigo laughed. Dabi smiled, too. They stopped for donuts and then went home with the news. When they arrived at the house, they saw someone tried to pin a "fag house" paper to their gate. Dabi beamed. "We're milking this for all its worth." He took the paper, sized it up with a size quirk, which only made things bigger, there was no shrinking back to original size so Dabi rarely used it.

He used his sticking quirk to paste it to the gate. Keigo had to admit that Dabi being blunt and open, making light of things or playing along with bullying, had served him well so far in life. So Keigo would follow in his footsteps. Before he told the other three, maybe wanting to avoid it as long as possible, just not think about it and the mystery it held, he and Toga made rainbow ribbon flags and stuck them to the gate.

"There, home sweet home," Keigo said with a smile, and they went inside. He made some tea while they all sat on the couches, waiting for the results.

"Well, by all counts, I should be quirkless," Dabi stated once getting his mug of tea. "I have the whole two joint pinky shit going on. Doctor gave us the name of a quirk specialist, that something just might have changed, like a gene mutation or some shit, I don't know. I have to talk to Rei and get family history stuff. Can't really do that with Enji, maybe I can ask Fuyumi to get him to give it with some lie."

He said it with a dismissive tone, but everyone knew it was a big deal, especially for him. Keigo walked to him and climbed into his lap. Dabi hugged him like a very large teddy bear, resting his face in Keigo's shoulder. It was easy to tell he wanted the others to leave. They all made excuses to go into their rooms. Keigo appreciated them not being so obnoxious that they didn't know what was best for one another. They were goofy and kind of crazy but all of them knew each other's tells. Keigo did now, too.

Eventually, Dabi released his hold on Keigo, but wouldn't make eye contact. "What's wrong?" Keigo asked softly.

"I hate showing this side of me. I hate crying and moping and acting weak and I know it's because of Enji that I feel weak when I'm sad," Dabi said, the normal skin of his face flushed in shame. "I only opened up and cried to Mei. I miss her. I don't want to burden her with this, though." Keigo was so grateful Dabi was open to talking about his feelings with him.

At least right now, he wasn't prideful enough to keep his feelings from his partner.

"Maybe counseling would help to get any of the ideas that Enji got in your head to go away for good."

"I wish I could have seen the look on his face when he realized I'm gay. It would have been brilliant. I could have done it on the landscaping day. Maybe get his attention and just climb into your lap."

"I'm sure the neighbors would have appreciated that," Keigo giggled.

"Hey, we're the house of fag's now. Shit, we need to market that," Dabi laughed. Keigo was glad he could laugh even in his sadness, or at least that it was a distraction.

-x-

Keigo had never seen Dabi as insecure as he was in bed. He would never say it, but Keigo had no idea how he could even get up with how nervous and insecure he was to ruin things or embarrass himself. Keigo was the one to make him relax. The flush that spread down his face and to his chest.

Keigo's wings reacted to it, they'd fluff up and flap without him meaning to, but Dabi's quirk (it was just easier to call it that) also malfunctioned while in the throes of pleasure. His hair flicked from black to white, the affect very interesting as it went from the roots to the tips of his hair, and his burns and staples flickered, his quirk ceasing to work. Keigo did not grow upset at seeing the traces of Touya, even if this version of him was the most similar to the age Keigo had tortured him at. He was not fifteen anymore.

But Keigo was able to see Dabi in Touya, and could look past it as long as he just focused on his eyes. Whether it was out of fear or insecurity, Dabi was very gentle until Keigo made it rougher. He'd silenced the room so the others couldn't hear, and locked the door to make sure they couldn't get in either.

It had been spontaneous, but for weeks they'd been exploring each other's bodies. Soft touches, appreciative looks, hickeys everywhere that Dabi insisted on, though it wasn't just to put off the Gym Bros since he wanted them even on nights before the days with his volleyball class. Keigo assumed he had a thing for markings.

Over all, their first time went remarkably smooth for two highly damaged people, both of their childhoods being hell. Keigo was relieved, and when Dabi searched his face with vulnerable eyes, he smiled. "That was fun." And the tension on Dabi's face left in absolute relief that he hadn't fucked up.

And there was no difference in the morning. They weren't suddenly handsy or clingy, they went about their normal morning. When Toga and Uraraka had been in the romp, the next morning they were very grabby, especially Toga. Keigo liked to think that their time together changed nothing, it just added something.

-x-

Dabi and Keigo were currently sitting on the floor with Dabi's bio family as they looked through old medical documents on all six of their immediate families. Searching for something. Fuyumi managed to get a shit ton of medical documents and history from Enji just by saying the kids were worried about diseases.

Keigo had to give him credit for offering it all up, but he couldn't really afford to burn his bridge with Fuyumi, no matter how stable it was or how easily it could be repaired. Dabi's appointment with the quirk specialist was in two weeks, so they had time to look through it all.

"History of thyroid issues in grandmother's side," Natsuo said. Shoto was watching with a vacant look, as he usually did. Keigo felt sorry for him, as he saw his own face in Shoto's. The trouble to emote. Keigo might have still been like that without the Commission forcing a personality into the husk of a child they bought.

"We probably won't find helpful shit. Not like genetic sequencing or bone marrow testing," Dabi said in irritation. "Glad we didn't get saddled with the IBS stuff, though. That would be really shitty."

"That was an awful pun," Keigo stated. Dabi looked confused.

"Dude, that's just how I talk," he said, and Keigo chuckled.

Keigo rolled out the genealogy chart that had been buried in the box of medical documents, which were all mostly useless information. He looked at the very old piece of paper, a long list. It was a genealogy chart from Enji's side of the family. It went back over nine generations, yet was treated so roughly. Clearly no care in it. Many names were blocked out and faces scribbled. Keigo wondered what earned those people that fate.

Dabi looked over. "How much you wanna bet those crossed out were deemed weak? Maybe gay or some shit. Maybe poor."

"Probably," Keigo mused. "Enji wasn't blacked out. Neither were you."

"This thing probably hasn't been touched in a long time. I doubt it means shit. Look, it doesn't even have Shoto on it, it's from before he was born. He'd definitely be on it given his quirk and position." A look of guilt flashed across Dabi's face. But it was gone as fast as it had appeared.

"Shouldn't they have thought it weird that you never, ever got sick or injured? Oh, I'm sorry-" he started, realizing it was an unintentional dig at Rei.

"It's okay, I'm not offended. It's true. I was just… so distracted. I was relieved Dabi never got sick and just thought it was luck. Though, you did pretend to have burns. Enji just never thought they were bad enough to be treated. But zero broken bones or cuts, no colds, nothing. It should have been odd."

"Well, at least it was one good thing for me," Dabi mused, seeming completely unoffended. Keigo was happy he made up with his family. Sheri got adopted but was still able to keep in touch with her big brother. "Oh, found great grandmother on Enji's side had a lung tumor in her 40's, but it was removed. Too bad, I remember her being a bitch."

"Dabi!" Fuyumi said in a scolding tone. Dabi just waved his hand off but didn't verbally reply. Rei just made a quiet sigh, and Keigo wanted to laugh at the dynamic but didn't. He was surprised Shoto didn't ask what he meant.

He took out his phone and looked up all the intelligible names on the family tree, and found some information on them, but nothing medical. "Your great, great, great uncle had cerebral palsy. Interesting he wasn't marked out from that," Keigo said. "Everyone not crossed out were very wealthy. Damn, your family was loaded."

"Glad to see that gross legacy ruined. Hah, by me!" Dabi declared proudly. "Now Rei's side is the better one. We'd all definitely be slashed out. Maybe besides Fuyumi."

"Well, probably not. This only goes down the son's side. There are no aunts or sisters. Only sons and their wives," Keigo said.

"Like I said, gross," Dabi repeated. "Fuck, I can't find anything useful, and we probably won't. Nobody as far as we found was quirkless. I have no idea how they kept fire quirks for most of them. Surely some overheated, but they didn't need to buy a wife to help offset that."

"The Todoroki family had no heroes in it besides Endeavor. Maybe they just didn't need it since they didn't use their quirks much. Honestly, a fire quirk is pretty useless for anything but destruction," Keigo said. "Rei, do you ever think you'll remarry?" he asked curiously.

She looked thoughtful. "I don't know. Definitely not anytime soon. I enjoy working and having friends."

"A healthy marriage wouldn't get rid of those things," Dabi said in a dry voice, tinted with a small amount of sadness and pity. Rei looked shocked and then realized she'd said something like that so casually. It was sad. "Shoto goes to school, so there would be no need to continue being a stay at home mom."

She said, "Enji called me last week, not Fuyumi's phone. I declined the call, and just told him to text me. He wanted to know how you were all doing."

"Was that last Thursday?" Dabi asked. She nodded. "Haha, I know why he was thinking of us." And he told Rei the petty thing they'd done, camping and watching Enji do his landscape job.

"So immature," Fuyumi grumbled, but Natsuo laughed about it.

"Why is gardening bad? You do gardening," Shoto said in confusion.

"He was demoted, that's why it was funny. He obviously doesn't want this job, he would want a position of more power. And I don't live to do gardening, it's just a hobby," Dabi explained.

"He changed," Fuyumi said quietly. "Maybe not to you all, but he did to me." Dabi and Natsuo rolled their eyes, irritating the seventeen year old. But she didn't talk of Enji again. After awhile more, they all collectively gave up, and Dabi was frustrated. They found no proof that anyone in their families, both mother and father's side, had anything "weird". But the blacked out people on the family tree were fairly recent, so Enji might know them. Their cousin might know them.

Rei reached out in text for the cousin that had kindly helped them in a time of need, but they didn't know much about them. After all, she'd been annexed from the family for reluctantly coming out as bisexual when she was just a teenager. It made sense that she didn't know.

After Dabi and Keigo helped make dinner, they ate and left. Dabi was the driver, and asked to pull over, his boyfriend nodding. They were on a street with lots of light, so it was (hopefully) less likely to cause issues. The windows were tinted so Keigo's wings wouldn't be too easily noticed. But just to be safe, he detached them quietly. Dabi loved watching him use his wings, and had only used his feathers a few times. Carrying many things at once. But he'd never actually flown with Keigo's quirk.

In the beginning, even thinking of those gorgeous feathers threw him ito a panic attack. Even wings on birds. Now, he thought they were beautiful, and didn't even think about them once having been used against him. Keigo hadn't used his wings as weapons in years.

Dabi looked very disgusted as he said he was going to call Enji. Keigo was surprised, but just nodded. He pressed the contact titled "human dogshit" and put it on speaker so Keigo could hear. The car was left running to keep the heater on so Keigo didn't get cold. The phone rang until it picked up, and clearly Enji didn't have Dabi's number on his phone. Now he did. Maybe they should have used Keigo's.

"What? Who is this?"

"I want medical records. More than what you gave Fuyumi. I want you to tell me why the faces of multiple people were crossed out on the genealogy tree," Dabi said in a flat voice, straight to business.

"Tou-Dabi? What - why are you calling me?" He sounded beyond confused.

"I just told you. I need medical records and we didn't find any helpful ones."

"Are you sick?"

"In a sense, which is why I need to know if any of your side of the family had underlying health issues. Like, brain issues, genetic abnormalities and all that shit."

"I don't have records on most of the family, not anymore. I can't help you." He sounded like he regret it.

"Then do you have any way for me to get into contact with others in the family." He was scowling, looking out the windshield. He hated speaking to the guy. "Numbers and emails."

"I have many. I doubt they'd speak to you, however."

"I'll just use my quirk to persuade them." Enji didn't ask for details, he just sent a list of names and email addresses.

"I hope you're not too sick and I hope you find answers."

"Me too, piece of shit," he spat and hung up. He yanked on his hair harshly. Keigo grabbed both of his hands, concerned. Dabi looked angry and humiliated, his face deep red. Keigo thumbed his staples.

"Are you okay?" he asked in a soft, concerned voice. The teenager's tense shoulders relaxed a bit.

"I fucking hate it. I hate I had to ask for his help."

"At least you didn't get much. It's not like he did a deep dive or anything to make you feel as if you'd 'owe' him something," Keigo soothed. Dabi nodded, and they continued home.

-x-

Keigo looked down at Dabi with loving eyes, stroking his face. Dabi reached up both hands to cup his cheeks. Then, his hands tightened to hold Keigo's head in place as wounds appeared on his body, and fingers fell off, releasing his face while Touya's eye was gouged out and poured blood.

"Did you think I forgave you?" he asked in a haunting voice. Keigo screamed Dabi's name, trying to fix him. The light left his good eye, and he was dead.

Keigo woke up screaming, and Dabi jerked awake next to him. "Kei?!" he said in worry, pulling his hands away from his face as he was digging his fingernails into it, rocking back and forth. He shoved Dabi away and ran to the window, and flew out in a panic, not even putting clothes on, only in his boxers.

"Keigo!" Dabi shouted before he took off after him, grabbing sweatpants and the nearest shirt laying on the floor before he flew after him. Keigo didn't want him to follow, but he soon was getting very cold. It was past 2 AM, and he was exhausted and so hurt and traumatized by the dream. Dabi easily caught up to him, and grabbed his hand and flew them to the nearest building.

Keigo sat down and put his head in his hands. He was shivering, so Dabi created a fire in his hands and reached them out slowly to try and warm him up. Keigo was not just shaking from the cold, but that was part of it, most likely. Hot tears streamed down his face, and he couldn't look at him - the person he tortured, the person who was so disturbed by Hawks that even birds scared him.

He didn't deserve him. "Birdie, whatever happened, it was just a nightmare." It wasn't, it was a memory. "Here, put some clothes on, your toes are turning purple," he soothed, and handed him the clothes. Keigo just held them and couldn't look up. "Was it about hurting me? And that's why you can't look at me?"

Dabi sounded a little hurt but he had the right idea. "I tried to blind you. I cut off your fingers. I stomped my boot on your face and broke your nose," he said quietly. "Why… Why are you w-with me? Af-ter I did that."

"That wasn't Keigo, and he didn't torture Dabi. Hawks was a different person and you know it. Touya is gone and that's good. And remember, it healed over instantly. My fingers grew back, my nose righted itself and I wasn't ever blind. I understand if you want to take a bit of time away more, but I love you no matter what Hawks did."

"No! No I - I don't want to be away, but please… please, don't be Touya. I c-can't see him. How can you see me?"

"I never see the Hawks I saw in you. I don't see him, I see Keigo. Yeah, your appearance then and now are very similar, but the look on Hawks' face while he tortured me was anger and cruelty and hate. I haven't seen Keigo make any of those faces. I know you haven't used your wings to harm anything for years."

Dabi cautiously moved forward, and cupped his face. "I think you need to see someone about this, pretty bird. You never got help when you needed it," he said, slowly scooching over to sit next to him, the fire resting on the concrete ground in front of them as if sitting around a campfire. "I don't want you to be upset looking at me."

He sounded so, so worried and scared that was what would happen. "I - I will," Keigo said, not wanting to be upset looking at Dabi either.

"Let's go home, it's cold." Keigo nodded, and Dabi hugged him, warming him up with a raised body heat. Keigo hugged him too. They flew back, and Dabi made some tea before they returned to bed.

They slept on opposite sides of the bed, Dabi worried he'd freak Keigo out if he woke from another night terror. He didn't. When he did wake up, disoriented and his feet hurting, Keigo found breakfast in bed. His favorite breakfast foods on a bamboo tray on the end of he bed. Keigo sat up and stretched, smiling at it with a tired face.

Sadness washed over him with how he'd behaved after the nightmare. It probably really scared Dabi, possibly made him feel guilty as if he'd triggered Keigo's dream and meltdown. He felt stupid, and shucked the blankets off his legs. Pulling the tray closer, he ate everything because he wanted to be nice to Dabi and the effort he put in it, even if he didn't really taste anything.

He came in a bit later, looking cautious. "I'm fine now. I'm really sorry about last night," Keigo apologized sincerely. Dabi nodded, but still looked sad. Keigo felt so guilty.

"Do you think I'm still scared of you?" he asked, blue eyes staring into Keigo's.

"No. Not usually. Not unless you look like Touya."

"You're always fine with it during sex," Dabi pointed out.

"I don't know. I don't know why. I just - the dream was really bad, and really bl-bloody," Keigo confessed. "Then you died right in front of me." He started to cry, and Dabi cautiously walked towards him before getting onto the bed, moving the mostly foodless tray aside. He pulled Keigo's chest to his, and gave him butterfly kisses on his cheek and ear.

He said, "I won't die easy, pretty bird. I don't plan on putting myself in that positon anyways. Not again." Keigo started to cry again, and Dabi just held him, threading fingers softly into his hair and wings, touch so light and careful. He just let Keigo cry without a word, slowly rocking them back and forth until he calmed.

Dabi called into work and said he couldn't make it, as he was sick. They agreed, and Dabi stayed home with him that day. Keigo felt bad for stressing him out when he was already stressed enough.

-x- Dabi -x-

Dabi was a bit uncomfortable going into the doctor with Rei, as he'd rather have his other mother there, but she was needed as there might be questions only she could answer, if they did find something and she was asked about her pregnancy or something. None of the sources Dabi contacted from Enji were good, nobody wanting to speak to him. Fuck them all, he didn't need their bullshit.

He didn't need to wait at all to be seen as this wasn't a normal doctor's place, and they only saw people with severe quirk issues. Dabi walked down the hall, Rei a few paces behind him, his hands stuffed in his jacket pocket. He made it look even more extra with metal looking cuffs at his biceps and cutting the coattails into three. It wasn't like he was ashamed of his voluntary burns and he loved being extra. He'd added plenty of white stitching so it was very original.

When they got into the examination room, it looked nothing like the doctor's offices he'd been to, few though they may be. There was no examination table and it was just very sterile. The trusted quirk "doctor" Mori knew came in with a clipboard, wearing a labcoat. "Dabi, and Todoroki-san," she greeted. Dabi nodded his head in response and Rei said hello. Dabi was sitting in one chair while Rei was in another. "I don't usually take samples from people to test personally, but it shouldn't be a problem.

"I'm just going to take a blood sample," and Dabi automatically held out his arm. "Is there anywhere to draw from that isn't burnt?" she asked. The teen just said it was fine. She nodded, and slipped the needle into the false burn easily. She looked mildly surprised by this but said nothing of it.

Dabi hated the sight of his own blood, but didn't have to look long. "I'll be back in a bit with the results. Gene sequencing has come a very long way." She left, and Dabi went on his phone, shoulders hunched over.

"Are you alright?" Rei asked.

"I hate going to a doctor," Dabi said gruffly. "I don't like being an experiment." That was not why he was upset, he was very worried. What if he had some disease, or was sick? What if something was seriously wrong with him? He wanted to enjoy his power but he was starting to hate it, and hoped the results would fix that.

She came in maybe half an hour later with a paper report. Dabi didn't get his hopes up just because she didn't look baffled. People who had worked for the Commission probably weren't the type to freak out externally about anything odd.

"Well, to be quite honest, I don't know how you are not severely, severely handicapped," she said casually. Dabi's brows rose in surprise. "Do you know what chromosomes are?" Dabi nodded. "Healthy humans have 23 pairs of two, for 46 chromosomes. A disorder where an extra chromosome comes is known to cause disabilities such as down syndrome. You have 51. I assume that the mix up was very lucky that it affected your quirk and not everything else. I'd like to have your bloodwork tested as well," she said to Rei, who nodded. "Is there any way to get your father's sample?"

"No," Dabi answered. He refused to ask Enji for anything at all. And he didn't get to be in his life, he didn't get to know an issue. Thankfully, the scientist backed off and didn't press.

So, he was a genetic mix up. Mutated genes. But obviously he was a human, so any shred of doubt and bit of fear over that stupid idea was gone. Dabi asked, "This has never happened before?"

"At least not on public records. It's possible that you are not the only one, not the first, and that others are living in hiding from it," she said honestly, bluntly. Dabi liked her. "I would like to document this phenomena but without your name attached to it. In case others have the same situation, they will know they aren't alone." Dabi thought for a long moment, and she waited patiently.

"Will you make it so there's no actual access to my blood? Like, what if weirdos steal it and try to do shit to it?" Dabi asked.

"I'll research your blood, and then I can dispose of it after I've learned all I can. I assure you nobody will be stealing your blood from this institution. I'll put a fake name on the sample."

"Okay, then you can keep it to do research," he allowed. "Is there anything else wrong? Diseases?"

The scientist got to drawing Rei's blood, and said, "That will take a bit longer to have results from. I didn't test for that specifically, but I can call and email the results of my finding." She left with Rei's blood, and twenty minutes came back. Rei looked a bit worried about her own results. "You both do not share the abnormal chromosome counts. At least on your side, it is not hereditary."

Rei nodded. The doctor went even further into Dabi liking her by pulling out a contract to assure Dabi that only she would handle the blood, and both he and her signed it. She took a copy and Dabi got the other, taking a photo of it immediately.

He left feeling happy and relieved. He was a genetic fuck up completely, but he was a person and wasn't some sort of drug experiment. He generated a bit of fire on his finger and grinned. He could love his quirk again, now.

-x-

"Dabi, there's a fire storm about you!" Toga shouted from outside the door. "Stop fucking Keigo and come see!"

They weren't fucking, technically, but Dabi was having a nice time marking up his boyfriend's body with hickeys and bite marks. Not being on the receiving end for them was pretty nice. The Gym Bros avoided him at all cost, so his hickeys were no longer having the desired affect. Oh well. At least his presence kept them from bullying the little chicks in the class. Dabi was glad Midoriya didn't latch onto him excessively, but they got along and he was the only real friend he had in class. He may be wanted on teams based on his skill, but they didn't really like him as a person. Which was fine, he didn't really care.

Dabi helped Keigo get his clothes, smirking in a pleased way of the red and purple bruises all over his body. He grinned widely, and Keigo shoved his arm. "You can't be mad, you consented, birdbrain," Dabi laughed. Keigo was completely flushed. They left his room and headed down the stairs, finding their three friends looking at Toga's phone. "So, what's wrong now?" Dabi asked, running a hand through his black hair.

"Bunch of people talking about your bullying!" Toga said, but didn't seem too bothered.

"Ooh, which stuff?" Dabi asked, standing behind her. "Is it my prank on Geten?" That was the most impressive "bullying" he'd done, even if he considred if was revenge. But he was fifteen. Three years later, he wasn't much different, though.

"Yeah, Geten talked about it, and it's a big deal." Dabi rolled his eyes. Of course Geten bitched about it.

"Well, it'll blow over," Dabi said, unconcerned. "I just hope it doesn't affect Kei." He turned around to look at his boyfriend in worry. He just waved his hand.

"If we ended up together despite the torture, do you think some mild bad press will send me packing?"

"I sure hope not, we wouldn't meet rent without you," Shuichi said bluntly. Dabi snickered and Keigo rolled his eyes. Dabi had a nice time reading through the hate comments, noticing that most of them were young women, people in Keigo's demographic. Most normal people thought it was mean spirited, but it was also three years ago, and Geten admitted they had never gotten along. Not that Dabi had always been evil to him, but they were never civil.

He felt no need to make a statement, they could all fuck off. Keigo stayed silent as well. The people who were the most hateful were young women and girls. Oh well.

Toga kept getting caught trying to make responses, so they set up a second account for her personally so she could reply and stoke the fire. Keigo thought their response was very ridiculous. Sure, it wasn't a big deal, but handling it poorly could look bad for them. "We're not celebrities, we don't go to concerts or award shows, nothing will happen," Dabi said.

"I don't know, I think you should say something," Tenko murmured while rubbing moisturizer on his face and hands. He was leaning against Shuichi while he played video games.

"Ugh, fine," Dabi groaned. He made a quick tweet on their channel as Dabi, and wrote "Geten and I never got along from day one. We fought and bickered and threatened each other. I think he hated me most because I kept throwing unused tampons at him and being sarcastic and he kept calling me a f*****. I mean, it was true in the end. I pranked him, it was mean, I thought it was funny at the time. I thought we ended school on amicable terms, as we hadn't spoken all third year. Don't know why it's becoming a big thing now."

He tweeted it once he got approval from his circle. Dabi thought it was over, it would die down. But it didn't. It got exponentially worse.