The journey back to Naruhata transcurred without incident. He was surprised to see the look of relief in everyone's eyes, but what stuck to him was learning that Duster had gone looking for him.
No, he didn't like how the old man treated him like a missing child, but it was better than how his family handled his disappearance when he was an actual child.
Moving on…
He was now dying his hair black .
He had no particular reason to choose that color, he just needed a change of look for his new identity.
"Oniisan!" came Eri's voice as she knocked on the new bathroom door.
"Come in."
The little girl kept sticking to him like glue; however, he could tell this was more about her missing him than worrying about him, so he didn't mind it all that much.
"What are you doing?" she asked, looking at his hair.
"I'm changing my hair color."
"You can do that?"
He chuckled at the kid's awestruck face.
"Everyone can, with that," he answered, pointing to the empty hair dye box.
The little girl took it and examined it. Ironically, the model on the box was actually a hero with some sort of dominatrix theme. The box didn't show much more than her face, but he recognized her from playing support in one of the villain attacks his father stopped.
That was where most of his knowledge on heroes came from, the clips of his father's fights. He was never all that much into heroes, much less nowadays.
"Will your hair look like this when you are done?" Eri asked, getting an affirmative hum in reply.
After that, there was silence as she watched him cover all his hair with the white creamy liquid that was slowly turning darker.
A brief glance at her told him she was hesitant on telling him something, but he let her be. She really needed to learn to speak up, or she'd grow up like Fuyumi.
It was when he had finished applying the dye and waiting for it to settle that she blurted out what was on her mind.
"I liked my hair looking like Oniisan."
Touya smiled at the little success.
"I have more dye, I can make yours black too," he said.
The girl perked up at that.
"I'd like that," she said looking back at the box. "Is there something to change eye color too?"
"Yes, but it's like putting a sticker in your eye."
Eri opened her eyes wide with a mix of worry and fear in them.
The corner of his mouth lifted at the expression, "Yeah, that's what I thought."
"There isn't another way?" she insisted weakly.
"Not that I know of," he replied before lowering his voice to a whisper. "Besides, red is my favorite color."
At least I think so.
Seeing the light sparkling in her ruby eyes settled it.
"Really? I'd think it was blue or black," Tamao said from the doorway.
"What is this? A bathroom party?"
She snickered at that as she made her way over to take a look at his dye-coated hair.
"Nah, I just wanted to see what you were hogging the bathroom for."
"Oniisan will make our hair black," Eri explained as he turned to retrieve another box of hair dye.
"Oh, you'll be matching Dad, then," the woman teased.
Had he mentioned he hated this family?
"Yeah, you'll be the odd one out," he retorted.
She took no offense, however, instead displaying the same bastard smile her father had.
"Whatever, how about I dye Eri-chan's hair while you wash that off?" she offered.
"Good for me," he said, throwing the dye box at her.
"Good for me too," the kid said, though her pout indicated the opposite.
Baby steps, I guess.
She quietly took the mixing bowl and brush he gave her and walked off.
"All good, then," Tamao replied as she moved aside to let Eri exit. "I gotta say, though, you really should be nicer to your hosts, little boy."
He turned to give her a death glare so fast he almost made himself dizzy; yet, she had already closed the door.
I swear, how long will I have to deal with these people?
"Ah, Dabi, I've got updates about the papers," the old man announced in one of their training breaks.
He gave a hum in acknowledgement before taking a long sip of water, eyeing Duster as he searched in the pockets of his pants.
"I found someone that can get us in the register for some money. We just need these things."
He handed him a piece of notebook paper.
It was a list with what they needed. The requests were what he expected: photos, basic data and…
"What's all this custody stuff?"
"You are both kids," the vigilante said, shrugging his shoulders. "You need an adult to figure as your caretaker."
Touya huffed and crossed his arms.
He wanted to yell 'I'm an adult', but he wondered if recovering his detached persona would spare him from these people's teasing.
"So you'll be our legal guardian," he guessed, apparently uninterested.
"Nah, I'll sign as Kuroiwa Takashi. It's one of my aliases."
Which meant their fake identities will be tied to one of the old man's in order to avoid being traced to each other. He still didn't like it, but he could work with that.
At least he didn't come up with adoption.
He hated the idea of being part of that guy's family. He was already too dependent on him, giving him even more control over his life sounded like a nightmare.
"Talking about aliases, you should start thinking of a new one."
Touya rolled his eyes, "Nah, you do it. I don't care."
However, the look in the man's eye made him regret his choice. Touya braced himself for his next words.
"I can give you the name we've got for if Tamao was a boy," he offered as if he didn't realize what he was implying.
"No, I'm not your son."
The firm warning in his voice didn't seem to reach the old man, who just laughed it off.
"You better choose it yourself, then."
"All I'm picking is my quirk's name: Phoenix."
"Why? It's plain fire, isn't it?"
" 'Hellfire' is plain fire too," Touya grumbled.
"I thought you were no fan of Endeavor's."
"I'm not, and that's not the point."
It was taking a lot to keep himself under control.
Why is he everywhere I go?
Even though Duster was completely different from his father, his reminder kept making him rage. As if he, Endeavor, was the one mocking him about that shameful time in his childhood: the time when he admired him.
This guy doesn't even know about that!
And yet, his good-natured teasing felt like his heart was burning from the inside, becoming the charred mass it was before Eri made it a bit more like it used to be.
"Well, what are you gonna do then?" the vigilante asked.
He shrugged, "I can let the kid choose. Now, let's keep going."
Touya stood up and so did his training partner after shaking his head with an amused huff.
Eri was not thrilled about choosing his name.
"But it's your name," she pouted. "I think you should choose it."
"If you haven't realized, usually you don't choose your own name."
The girl thought it over.
It was parents who named their children, but their parents weren't there and they were each other's only family. Still, it didn't sit right with her.
"Can we choose our names together?"
"Fair. Let's just do some brainstorming."
"That sounds fun," she commented.
" 'Brainstorming' is just spewing all that comes to mind. We will filter later."
Her brother took out some blank papers and her drawing utensils as he spoke. Eri immediately took the red crayon and gave it to him, before looking at the other colors, indecisive.
"What's your favorite color?" he asked, picking up on what she had done.
"I don't know."
"Do you know any other favorite things?"
"Apples."
"Apples are mostly red or green."
Eri picked the green crayon and showed it to him. He gave a hum of approbation.
"Okay, now that we are all set, let's do this: we write kanjis we like here and then combine them."
"I don't know how to write."
He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Like, at all? Not even hiragana?"
She shook her head, feeling a bit ashamed.
"Well, I'll add that to the list of things I have to teach you," her brother said as if it was nothing, but she could tell he was upset by the dark look in his eyes. "For now, I'll write and you'll draw."
They started their work in silence, but Eri couldn't concentrate. Her eyes kept flickering to the teen. She felt bad that she was giving him so much work, but maybe this could be an excuse?
"If the list is long you can leave quirk training for last…" she muttered.
"No. Remember what we talked. The sooner you learn to control your quirk, the better."
He didn't look away from the paper, not understanding what she was trying to convey.
"Oniisan," she called, but he just hummed, "look at me."
The fire user snapped his head up, staring straight at her. She didn't know what to make of the surprise in his eyes that soon dissolved into sadness.
"What's it, Eri?"
"Even if I learn, even if I make my quirk a blessing like you said… you'll still get hurt, right?"
"We've already gone over this, kid," her brother sighed in frustration. "You will fix it, so there's nothing to worry about."
"But what if I can't?" the little girl took a big breath, mustering all the courage she could. "If I can't cure your curse, I don't want to learn how to use it."
His face darkened completely at the declaration. She could practically see the blazing fire in his eyes, burning right through her.
"If you do that, it'll build up and go off on its own like last time."
It sounded like a threat, even though Eri knew it to be a fact. She looked down and fisted her hands on the skirt of her dress.
"I know, but… I can do like last time with the bird."
Her brother stared at her, the fire condensing into ice, "You can do it, it's no use wondering about 'what if's."
She agreed, not having any more fight left on her.
"You know, I think I will choose my name after all," he said after a while as he circled her drawing of flames and a kanji. " 'Hiro' with the kanjis for 'fire' and 'son' and sounding like 'hero'."
Eri pressed her lips together.
Oniisan really really wants to be a hero, doesn't he?
She didn't want to hold him back, but she didn't want to lose him to his dream.
"And I think I'll keep 'Dabi' as our surname since people usually call you by it. How does that sound?"
"I like it, what does it mean?"
That made his features soften a little.
" 'Cremation'. It's supposed to be a ritual of purification of the dead, but it hurts like hell if you are actually alive."
She nodded. The concept kind of fit her quirk: it hurt but it could be a good thing, or at least some people thought that. Yet, she liked 'Dabi' because it was the name of the person that saved her, even if it wasn't really his name.
Now that I think about it, even though we are siblings, he hasn't told me his name.
She would ask, she knew this was her best chance of getting an answer, but she had already spent all her bravery for today.
"Your turn. I'll tell you the meanings and readings," he started, but the girl stopped him.
"Can't I just use my name? Different people can have the same name."
She wasn't especially fond of her name, but her parents gave it to her. It was like throwing away the only one she had left from them.
"I mean, we could write it with different kanjis, but I'm guessing you don't know how it's written and I don't want to risk it."
However, as he said it he started writing some kanjis on the back of the papel in neat columns.
"You gave me an idea, though. All of these can be read as 'e', those as 'ri', and those as 'eri'," he pointed. "As long as the combination doesn't sound like 'Eri', you can pick whatever."
She ended up choosing two that sounded like 'ri', so her name became 'Riri' with the kanjis for ' home' and ' reverse', because even though she had her brother there with her, she couldn't shake the feeling of wanting to go back home, back to when Daddy was around and Mommy loved her.
She didn't remember it, but that was what Tengu said, that they were good and caring parents before she made Daddy disappear. It was very different from how her brother talked about them.
Why weren't they good parents to him?
Again, she couldn't bring herself to ask it right now.
The child refused to train her quirk.
He had even waited until the start of summer, when the temperature made it harder for him to train and Eri's quirk had had enough time to recharge.
Yet, she kept making up excuses to avoid training.
What happened to 'I want to help Oniisan'?
He wasn't going to lie, it got on his nerves. Touya knew she hated her quirk, but that was only because she couldn't see its potential; she only saw what the beak freak made her see.
Still, he knew he couldn't force her, he saw how good it went for his father.
"Seriously, I only kept her for her quirk," he ranted as he massaged his temples. "If she doesn't use it, I've gone through all this trouble for nothing."
"Again with the bad guy act?" Tamao sighed.
Grampa Knuckles' daughter had become his confidant out of an attempt to make her change her mind about him. Duster and Eri were a lost cause in that department, blinded by what they needed him to be, so he didn't even bother with them.
"If Eri-chan is scared to use her quirk, why don't you help her with her fear first?"
Thing was, unlike his last confidant, this woman didn't only listen, she gave her input too; useful input at that. It was new for Touya, but welcome; even when their ideas didn't align.
"How am I supposed to do that? That man got in her head, she doesn't believe anything I say when it comes to her quirk."
She took a moment to think.
"I think you just said it yourself," she started, still in thought. "Don't talk about her quirk, talk about her. She is a good girl that doesn't want to hurt anyone and her quirk is a part of her, so it can't be as bad as she was told."
He suppressed a laugh, "Kids like her don't think they are good."
Only once they were completely broken they could confirm or refute that belief.
He was not beyond pushing her to that point, but there was too much at stake. If she made him younger, he wouldn't be able to set in motion his plan for years. That if he didn't end up dying before time or rather… unbirthing? Anyways, he didn't want to pay a visit to Eri's father yet.
"How about a security measure?" Tamao suggested. "If she feels reassured that there is no way she can hurt anyone, she may be okay with it."
Touya's lips curved up in a wicked smirk.
"I can check if knocking her out stops her quirk."
"You wouldn't hit her."
She didn't look as sure as she sounded. He didn't contain his laughter this time.
"What makes you think that? I've seen people hit their beloved child until he puked."
"You were the kid?" she asked, suspicious.
Touya got serious again. He slipped, he was getting too comfortable.
"No."
"What happened to those people then? You don't look like the type to ignore it, if Eri-chan is any proof."
He couldn't tell if she believed it or thought he was lying. Why would he do that? He had nothing to lose saying the truth here. In fact, he had a lot to win.
"I did ignore it back then, I thought he was just being a spoiled brat."
"So… you helped her because you didn't help that other kid?"
"No," Touya smirked, amused at the confusion on her face, "I was just mad at that yakuza freak for being an asshole."
Tamao frowned and crossed her arms, fixing him with a disapproving look.
Good, she is starting to understand.
"Hit her and you are losing custody," she declared.
"Take her and you are losing your life," Touya shot back, his voice turning low and dark. "And I assure you, woman, Daddy Dearest won't be able to save you."
She stared at him in surprise as he held her gaze firmly. It was almost a stare contest, with her trying to figure out his true intentions and him displaying them for her. To her credit, it took a while for her to look away.
"Dabi, please, be serious. She is your sister, you should be the one protecting her. Besides, if you had an experience like that, why would you want to repeat it?"
He rolled his eyes.
Nevermind, she still doesn't understand .
"You know what? This is useless, I'll figure it out on my own," he said, standing up to go find Eri.
"Why do you ask if you aren't gonna listen?" Tamao sighed. "At least let Dad help you, he's got experience training others."
He stopped in his tracks and gave the woman an incredulous look.
She was spitting out absolute nonsense now. Did she not know how violent her father was? If she didn't want the kid to get hit, Touya was the better option.
However, his confidence faltered when the image of his father 'training' Shouto came to mind.
Shouto, who Eri reminded him of.
And Touya, sadly, took too much after his father.
You'll end up lashing out at the wrong person again.
"No, I am training her," he declared, partially to himself. "Don't get in my business."
"YOU got me in your business!"
"Forget I did!"
He slided the door closed with more force than needed.
Okay, so maybe he wasn't the better option, but how was a quirkless person supposed to teach someone how to use their quirk? Sure, he had one at some point, but he couldn't just teach that with words. Not to a literal child, those learn by example.
And you are a good example?
He growled. This was not the time for doubts! He had already postponed it enough. Eri would learn, whether she liked it or not.
He didn't care what she wanted.
Finally! I got to the "change of looks and names" chapter. If you can't tell, I have dyed my hair and wore contacts.
Here is one of the Easter eggs of the cover: the smoke making their hair darker is because they dye it. Another is Touya burning Eri's hair and Eri rewinding 😉
The title of the chapter isn't just about the hair, though.
About the names:
- 里裏 (Riri): 里 also means "origin" and 裏 also means "dark side" between other meanings, because she was born in the dark side of the society. Also, with the Japanese pronounciation, it sounds like "lily" and I've seen some edits of Eri with that song from Alan Walker.
- 火郎 (Hiro): it's a reference to him being Endeavor's son. The kanjis doesn't have much different meaning's than what was alredy said in the story.
- 荼毘 (Dabi): the yakuza can guess that's how it's written, but since they have only heard it, they have no way to know for sure. Ironically, since it's supposed to be for purificarion (aka release the soul from the body's "impurity"), it'd turn stuff from black to white.
Disclaimer: My Hero Academia and its characters are property of Kōhei Horikoshi and Studio Bones.