Hey guys~ Sorry for the bit of a wait. I got a lil occupied and been busy with work. Anyways, I apologize if there are some mistakes/typos. Enjoy~
Chapter 3:
The next two days were quiet until Dabi received a message to meet up for a League meeting. They were given their assignments.
"Dammit, you can't just summon us whenever." Dabi complained at their League lair.
"Either this or your ass out and stalked, harassed for the rest of your life until you're forced to leave town 'cause you know too much now." Shigaraki threatened.
"I literally just joined two days ago—what secrets do I know?!"
"Your job is to set the forest on fire." The silverette ignored him. This was just a warm up activity to show the League's rebellion, simply to make the heroes aware of their anonymous presence.
This was a piece of cake for Dabi, however, his flames were too recognizable. He didn't know a single other quirk user in town with blue flames. Looks like he'll have to do this the old fashioned way. And so he did, to which they made headlines the next day. There were no cameras in the forest and it all happened over night so the heroes had no leads.
Dabi saw it on TV and he wasn't going to lie, it felt kind of badass. Like this could be a new hobby of his, stirring up trouble and getting away with it. It was oddly satisfying. 'Anyways, I gotta head to class now, already skipped the morning one.' Dabi thought. On his way to college, he stopped by the convenience store to get a drink of some sort.
While he was in the fridge aisle, and took a step back to close the door, he bumped into another person.
"Oh sorr—" Dabi turned his head to see a familiar dual haired teen unexpectedly standing there. The teen mouthed an apology which was cut short when he recognized the other. "Dabi?"
"Honor student." Dabi equally acknowledged.
Shoto gave him a deadpan look and reminded. "I have a name you know."
"Oh I know, but everyone probably calls you that name."
'Well that's true, no one called him that nickname.' The dual haired thought while the ravenette peeked to see what the other was buying off the high shelf. "Excuse me." The younger turned away and looked for his item.
"Need a hand?" It sounded cocky when coming out of Dabi's mouth.
"I can help myself." Shoto tiptoed and his fingers grazed the object but not fully gripping it. The elder crossed his arms and tilted his head, not willing to help him now unless he begged for help. After trying a few times, and not willing to knock over the other cans, Shoto slumped his shoulder with a sigh. "Are you just going to stand there?"
"Hn? Oh, I was waiting for you to ask. Need a hand? One longer and taller?"
Shoto really felt like slapping the smug off the other's face sometimes. "I don't respect your personality." He blurted.
Dabi was caught off guard for a brief second before he burst into laughter, holding himself back with a hand. "What the hell, so blunt." He amused. "You're amusing, kid."
'Again with the kid reference.' "How old are you then, grandfather?" The teen felt like retorting for a change.
"Older than you."
"Do you always have so much free time?"
"Damn, are you always so cold? But meh, sadly not always. I gotta be on my way." Dabi took the item Shoto wanted off the shelf and placed it right on the younger's head. The dual haired instantly grabbed it, their hands brushing briefly. "Well later than hero~" Dabi snickered before leaving with a partial wave inches away from his face.
"I don't get him…" Shoto bought his snacks and walked out of the store eventually as well. 'He's like one of those people you cant tell whose side they're on. Whether he could be trusted or not.'
A week or so went by and Shoto was hanging out with Deku and a few others from his class in a café. Before they entered the café, Shoto excused himself. One of the girls held his wrist. "You should come in with us, get a drink. You should socialize more."
"Social what?" Shoto repeated. For someone who was home schooled most of his life, he was a bit dense in these situations.
"It's true, you normally, just train and then go home right away." Deku also added.
"Hm," The dual haired couldn't deny that. He entered with them and ordered a warm latte. While the others chatted about and Shoto drank his drink, he noticed a familiar figure from the side of his eye. It took him a minute to recognize the other but the silhouette from the back looked very familiar. Dabi grabbed his iced coffee from the counter and turned 180 degrees to the other side, without noticing him at all. He trotted to a single table near the wall, pulling out a chair and his phone.
Shoto hadn't realized he was staring the whole time, but his curiosity couldn't take his eyes off. 'Was he meeting someone? He didn't seem like the type to chill in a café.' Though he shouldn't assume.
"What's wrong Todoroki-kun?" Deku asked out loud.
"Oh nothing." The dual haired suddenly felt weird. However, he couldn't help it. The more he ran into him, the more he felt wordlessly drawn. 'He chose ice coffee.' He mentally noted. It was the opposite to his. While Shoto sat there, glancing at the other secretly now and then, he had the urge to just walk up to Dabi. That was an unknown foreign compulsion. He was rarely the one who had the will to talk to someone first—usually it was the other way around.
He really felt like going over. 'But what would he say? Would that be weird? Ugh…what was he doing?' Shoto frowned, shutting his eyes and pinching his nose. "I'm going to get another drink." The dual haired told as he stood up on his own accord and waltzed to the counter.
"Huh? First he didn't want to join us but now he's getting two cups, nice." One of the girls remarked amusingly. Shoto ordered and picked up his drink, pausing once and turning briefly to where Dabi was sitting, much closer now than to where his table of friends were. However, this time around, Dabi looked up and met eyes. Shoto invisibly flinched.
"Honor student." It was subtle, but the ravenette didn't sound like his usual chipper self. He was still faking a carefree tone, but it was down a few notches.
"Not that again." The younger narrowed his eyes. "Don't you ever get tired of calling me that. Like I said, I have a name."
"Likewise."
"Dabi." Shoto mouthed without hesitation. The elder was taken aback for a moment, not expecting that. Then again, when was the last time he called him by his name.
The ravenette scoffed. Well, he was here for some alone time, but whatever. "You gonna just stand there, or sit down?"
The teen raised his brows. "Is that okay?" Dabi shrugged his shoulder in response. Shoto swallowed once and awkwardly pulled out a chair in front.
"Thank you." 'Okay now he was regretting. Why did he even approach him? It felt awkward for some reason. They weren't even friends.' Silence was their third company and the loudest one.
"Um, I'm assuming you live around here?"
"Mh, not that far." Dabi's responses were dead.
"Same." There was that darn silence again. 'Well that was a stupid question, of course he probably lived around here. Ugh why is socializing so hard?'
"Why are you so tense?" The ravenette casually pulled him out of his thoughts. "You're the one who was standing there." Shoto turned his gaze to find piercing turquoise eyes staring into his.
"I'm not tense." The teen lied, straightening his back, sipping his coffee.
"Heh, keep telling yourself that."
"...do you come here often?"
"Nah. I'd prefer to stay at home, or maybe a bar." The ravenette told.
'That made sense.' Shoto thought.
"But I have my days every now and then. I don't see you here often though." Dabi continued.
"I kind of prefer staying at home too."
"Haha." It was weak but they felt connected and a little more comfortable with each other. "Do you live in the dorms?"
"No at home. My dad insists on personally training me."
"Only kid I bet? If you're getting all the attention." The ravenette joked.
"No my older sister lives in the same house. And I have an older brother who lives in his college dorms."
"Oh, so the youngest? That's suits ya."
"How so? What about you? How many siblings do you have?"
"None. It's just me."
"I see. Your house must be pretty peaceful." Shoto blurted.
"Pretty much, it's just my old man, but I live alone anyways."
Shoto looked puzzled. "Why do you need your own place when it's just the two of you?"
"Pffft, I don't know. Just wanted to?" The elder responded and Shoto left it at that. "So, what's it like being the son of the number two hero? I bet that's why you're a hero too?"
The teen didn't have an answer to that right away. "You have no idea. And no, I'm not a hero because of him. Maybe he's forcing the role on me, but I've always watched All-might growing up."
"That again. All-might sure is a role model for everyone." Dabi commented, jaw resting on his knuckles.
"Do you not like All-might?" The younger asked genuinely surprised someone like that could exist.
Dabi internally found that innocent. "Nothing against him, but not exactly looking up to him either."
"Then why are you trying be a villain?"
"No reason. Just because?" he shrugged again.
"Just because?" The younger repeated, not entirely satisfied by the answer. There had to be a bigger reason for everyone to choose one or the other. Otherwise they could've been normal mundane citizens.
"That reason not good enough for you?" The elder picked up on his distaste.
"Well I suppose it doesn't really matter."
"Look I just didn't feel the hero vibes so I picked the next best thing." Dabi didn't know why he found the need to explain himself.
"Okay." The conversation died again and weirdly enough Shoto was missing it. They seemed to get along fine despite having nothing in common. Actually there was one thing… "Where do you get your quirk from?"
Dabi shot him a confused look. "Dunno."
"Huh? What do you mean? I've never seen blue flames before. Did you not inherit from your father?"
"No. He doesn't have any quirks."
"Then your mom?"
"Don't know her."
"Oh, sorry." Now the teen felt as if he shouldn't have probed as much. Where the quirk came from shouldn't be a concern as long as it was his now. And it was one hell of a quirk too.
"Pst, what're you apologizing fer? Too nice." Dabi teased. "You gonna believe everything I say?"
Shoto blinked once. "Wait were you lying?" He felt embarrassed and was fighting a mild blush.
Dabi chuckled. "No, but could you tell?" The younger rolled his eyes with annoyance. "Aw, you're sulking, how cute~"
"W-what? Who's sulking?"
"Are you blushing?"
"No."
"You are. Look your cheeks are turning the same color as your hair."
"You're making stuff up again—that's not physically possible." 'Why did Shoto put up with him?'
"Want me to get you a mirror?"
"Ugh, forget it. I was leaving anyway." Shoto wasn't used to dealing with this kind of demeanor. The teen was about to stand up again but the other grabbed his wrist.
"Did I make our honor student mad? Whatever can I do to have his highness's forgiveness?" Dabi was smirking per usual, clearly mocking.
Shoto pulled away from his aggressively. "Are you ever serious? Do you act like this with everyone? It's childish. Is this why you're sitting alone?" Shoto immediately regretted the last part, it was said out of frustration.
Dabi's brow twitched once. "Someone's pissed."
Shoto sighed and left the other to his fake smiles. He returned to his table and wow had he completely forgotten about his group of friends. They were all staring wonders at him. The teen wanted to close his eyes and simply disappear. Any minute now—
"Todoroki-kun who was that? He looks older than us—a friend? I didn't know you knew people outsode school?" Deku was the first to ask.
"He's kinda hot though, what's your relationship to him? You think you can introduce us?" One of the girls asked.
"Damn Todoroki being the one to willing sit with someone and chat? What are we missing here?" Kaminari commented next.
"Uh…it's not what you guys think, trust me…" Shoto began, unconvincingly. "I don't know him, we've just run into each other a few times that's all and he's annoying to get along with so I wouldn't recommend it."
"Oh, he's hiding something~" A whisper emerged from the girls.
The dual haired frowned. "Id you'll excuse me, I have to go home now or else my father will be displeased. Bye." He quickly excused himself.
"Todoroki-kun—ah, he left…" Deku tried to call after him but to no avail.
Shoto made it home a little late and his father was waiting for him. "What took you so long?"
"It's my fault, I was late."
"What were you doing?"
"Does it matter? I was hanging out with a few friends."
"You don't have time to be wasting with things such as friends. These years are the most important for you especially if you want to surpass All-Might. Now meet me in the dojo and no more hanging out." Enji exclaimed.
Shoto exhaled hard as he watched his father turn and walk into the house. No such thing as a break here.
Dabi was lounging in the League's lair, their typical VIP room in the back of their bar. Shigaraki was going over their next rebellious plan.
"Alright listen up you punks. Those pesky hero students from U.A. are really starting to get on my nerves. They're always lurking around everywhere. We're going to pay their school a visit and kidnap any two of these." The silverette gestured to Kurogiri who placed a paper, a list on the counter. The paper was passed around and when it came to Dabi. He noticed Shoto's name on the list.
'Hm…' Dabi stared at the name.
To be continued…
Aw theyre getting a little closer, lol. Anyways Thanks for reading and please review~