It was the day of UA's entrance exam.

Dabi was confident he would pass, but Eri hoped he didn't.

His change didn't go unnoticed by anyone in the house. He didn't insist on training Eri anymore; instead, he trained on his own, pushing Duster away when he tried to join him. Because of the lack of supervision, his scars started spreading and becoming darker. He didn't look like he used to, but at this rate he would before he was supposed to graduate from high school.

And Eri felt guilty.

She was the only one that could heal him, but she didn't want him throwing himself into danger because she could fix the damage. That was why she hoped he would fail and give up.

Then, she would heal him, like she had been practicing on hurt animals in secret.

Even though the secret weighed heavily on her heart.

"Hey, kiddo." Duster got her out of her thoughts, plopping down next to her on the couch. "Don't worry, Dabi will do well."

Eri nodded as her eyes drifted to the door.

"When will he be back?"

"Soon. The exam should be over by now, he just has to make his way back."

"What if he doesn't?"

The man raised an eyebrow at the question.

"I guess it would have been better to go get him in case he didn't do as good as he wanted. That guy is a real overachiever," he answered with a fond smile.

His phone rang at that moment.

"Unknown number on my work phone," he frowned before looking at her. "It must be about Dabi."

The little girl held her breath as he picked up.

"Hello... Yes, it's me…"

There was a long pause on his end before his eye opened in surprise.

"He attacked another kid?"

Eri shared his surprise and confusion. Her brother was undeniably impulsive, but he could hold back when he needed to.

The only exception was when it was a sensitive topic, when he was triggered, as Tamao had explained to her the last time it happened.

She wasn't happy about it, but if this meant there was no way he passed the exam…

But… he worked so hard for this.

He had been so busy preparing for this day he even stopped keeping such a close eye on her as he used to.

The fear of him leaving grew every time she came back from her quirk training and he didn't notice what she had been doing or asked where she had been.

It was like they were drifting apart.

Am I asking for too much? Am I a bad sister for wanting him to stay safe no matter what?

Her lips trembled as she hugged her knees to her chest.

Am I hurting Oniisan?

Almost instantly a hand fell softly on her head offering her some comfort.

Once he hung up, Duster called out to his daughter.

"Tamao, I'll go pick up Dabi. Look after Eri," he said as he stood up.

"I— I want to go!"

The little girl's eyes widened at her own petition.

She didn't mean to say that, but a little voice in the back of her mind told her if he was going to hate her or go away she had to at least say goodbye.

"I think it'll be better if we all go," Tamao agreed as she came back from the kitchen where father and daughter had been making a celebratory lunch for Dabi.

"No, it's better not to make a big deal out of this," the man replied, lowering his voice to a whisper as he passed by the woman to go get ready. "Worst case scenario, it goes on his record and he can't apply to any hero school. It's not the end of the world."

"It would be for him," his daughter argued in the same volume.

I am hurting him.

The realization tore her heart into shreds.

What was she thinking, wanting her brother to fail?

She had to apologize.

Even if he didn't like it when she did, she needed to.

She needed him to know how sorry she was for not being supportive.

But…

He already failed.

She already failed.

The sound of the main door closing confirmed it:

It was too late.

Touya was fuming.

The written part of the exam was hard for someone that forcefully dropped out of middle school, even with the studying he did in the last months. He was sure he barely passed, but he thought he could compensate with the practical portion.

No, of course no. When do things go my way?

He had been sabotaged.

Which was against the rules of the exam, but all those people seemed to care about was how he lost his temper.

He was just enjoying his little competition at bot-blasting against the teenager now sat next to him when that purple-haired guy had overheard him complaining about his firepower and offered to help. Of course, Touya told him he didn't need help and, next thing he knew, his ears were ringing.

And then, the explosive brat had the guts to yell at him for teaming up and to call him a weakling!

So yes, he was physically fuming.

"C'mon, the exam was over. My only mistake was taking it out on the wrong person, but he started it and wouldn't hear me out!"

"I don't care about your excuses, extra!"

"They aren't excuses! Did your explosions leave you deaf?!"

"Dabi-kun, Bakugou-kun, quit yelling," the UA principal asked, taking a sip of his tea.

They both huffed and crossed their arms, only to glare at each other when they noticed.

Not a second later, a woman joined them.

"Katsuki," she yelled as he bopped his head with more force than needed, "apologize right now!"

"Ow! You don't even know what happened, old hag!" he yelled back at her.

This was the brat's mother without a doubt; the boy was a carbon copy of her, both in looks and explosive character.

Something inside him twisted at their interaction.

The woman went to hit him again, but Touya stopped her hand and spoke up very seriously.

"He's right. You are his mother. Shouldn't you take his side until proven he's to blame?"

"I don't need you to defend me, weakling!"

"Katsuki!"

His blood boiled again at the insult. Yet, the moment the woman noticed the killer look he was giving to Bakugou, she used the grip on her wrist to push him to the floor.

Away from her son.

Because, despite the aggressive scolding, she was on his side.

It made him think of his own mother.

And how she was never on his side.

"I already know what happened. He does this all the time, but they don't usually fight back," she explained to Touya, offering him a hand to help him stand up. "I don't blame you for defending yourself, he needs to be put in his place."

Why the hell did that hurt?

He rejected her hand and went back to grumble on his seat, glaring at the principal who kept drinking his tea as if nothing had happened.

Bakugou didn't direct another word at him, instead bickering with his mother until the old man deigned to show up.

"Sorry, did I take too long?"

Duster, posing as Kuroiwa Takeshi, was more dressed up than he used to, with his hair neatly combed and a patch covering his unseeing eye. He didn't bring his cane either.

Touya couldn't tell who in that room was more surprised by his looks.

Nezu, the rat-bear-something principal, shook his head on dismissal and asked 'Kuroiwa-san' to take a seat.

"Now that we are all here, we can start," he announced, putting down his tea cup to look at the two teenagers. "It was not your fight itself what landed you here. Rather, your attitude before a perceived injustice makes me believe you aren't apt to be heroes."

You have to be kidding me.

"Listen here, you lab rat," he exclaimed as he stood up and slammed his hands on the table.

"Dabi-kun, sit down, please," the principal asked, threateningly calm.

Simultaneously, Duster pulled him back down.

He huffed, glared at the man and then looked at Bakugou, who looked back at him with shared anger at the rodent's statement. He was sure the only reason he didn't react like Touya did was because her mother was there, keeping him grounded with a hand on his shoulder.

He did not have that.

He never had that.

"As I was saying, you aren't apt to be heroes," Nezu continued, making a pause to test Touya's patience, "but that's what our hero course is for. Bakugou-kun, Dabi-kun, you've got as much potential as any other candidate; so, if you compromise to make an effort on your side, we will allow you to keep being eligible for this course."

The fire user stopped himself from sighing in relief.

"Those are good news then," Duster said, patting his back with a smile.

"You better be grateful, brat," Mrs. Bakugou told his son while ruffling the blond's hair.

Then again, another dagger to the fire user's heart.

Yet, anger quickly cauterized the newly opened wound.

"What about the other guy, though?" he asked, reminding himself of what led to this unfortunate encounter. "Is he just going to go without consequences?"

"Don't worry about it. We will look at the recordings and handle the situation."

So, nothing.

He bit his tongue. He hoped Nezu would consider that 'making an effort'.

"What happened, anyway?" Bakugou asked, visibly more relaxed himself.

"I think he sent me into some sort of trance. I don't even remember when the exam ended."

"Not so long before I blasted your face," the explosive child answered with a smug smile.

"You are such a brat, boom boom boy," Touya stated, running a hand down his face.

But there was no bite to his words.

He didn't exactly despise this kid. Some part of him was even fond of him.

"Good to see you've made amends. You can retire now," the principal indicated, before they could start another round of yelling.

They did as told; but, while they made their way out of the building, Mrs. Bakugou kept nagging her son about apologizing to him.

"It's fine. I landed some hits too," Touya interjected.

"Yes, but those didn't leave marks," the woman stated, scanning the boy for any visible wound that wasn't healed by UA's nurse.

"He has a fire quirk! If he can stand his flames, those explosions shouldn't leave marks!"

What a shame that my body does not stand my flames, he mocked in his mind.

"Besides, I don't care about the scars. It really is fine," he insisted, more for Duster than for her.

Because he knew the old man wasn't happy at all with his state.

He had so many new burns that Recovery Girl had refused to use her quirk on him since 'he didn't have enough energy left for that', whatever that meant. All she had done was treating them the conventional way and wrapping them in bandages.

"We should hurry home so you can rest," Duster told him as they reached UA's entrance, before turning to the blonds. "It was nice to meet you. I hope we don't have to keep seeing each other like this."

"I wouldn't bet on it," Mrs. Bakugou said, shaking her head and softly pushing her son in the opposite direction.

"Oi, fire hazard! You better get into UA so we can have a rematch!" he yelled as a farewell.

"Yeah, back to you!" Touya replied, copying his energy.

"Your sister is gonna cry."

They were in the car, making their way from the train station to the house, and Duster had been bothering him about his wounds since they left the Bakugous.

"Can we talk about something else? Like, you look and act like someone completely different as Kuroiwa. Should I do the same?"

"Bit late for that," the man answered, serious despite keeping his usual humor. "Now, let's get back on topic."

"No, stop with that!"

He was racking his brain for a way to make the vigilante drop it, but the tiredness from the day's events and the previous sleepless nights wasn't helping; it only served to shorten his already limited patience.

"Dabi, you won't get too far if you keep hurting yourself like that," Duster tried to reason.

"But that won't be a problem once I get into UA. My hero suit will solve it."

"A hero suit isn't a fix-it-all. Even the medical devices made for cases like yours can't get rid of the problem completely."

"What do you mean 'cases like mine'?"

It was absurd to think he hadn't noticed after all this time, but he had hoped he dismissed or misinterpreted the signs.

"Your body can handle your quirk to a certain extent—if not, you'd be dead by now—, but it's too powerful for you to use it at its full potential."

Touya felt his soul leave his body.

"But I have to."

"Why?" Duster inquired, to which the teenager stayed silent. "Kid, your life is more important than infiltrating the hero world. We can find another way—"

"I already told you! That isn't it!"

He wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn't come out.

He was glad, to be honest. He had always hated how much of a crybaby he was; the last thing he needed was Duster knowing how easily he got overwhelmed by his feelings.

The conversation stopped there, thankfully.

He didn't have the energy left to make his goal seem noble when in reality it was all about revenge.

Right, I have to make Father pay. That's the only reason. This shouldn't affect me so much, he told himself in an attempt to calm down. If it doesn't work out, I can always go back to my original plan, even if it takes longer.

It was just… it had been an awful day.

And he was only half way through it!

He looked out the window, witnessing how the lights of the city faded as they got to the more rural area.

He could very well jump out of the car and disappear for some days, but…

What? I'm too tired right now? That doesn't seem right.

Yet his body refused to move.

Eri did cry when she saw him.

She started apologizing like crazy too.

But Dabi moved her out the way and locked himself in their room.

Making Eri feel more miserable.

"It's not her fault you didn't do well, Dabi!" Duster yelled at him.

The little girl wrung the hem of her dress as she muttered, "But it is my fault."

"Eri…" The man sighed and got on his knees to place his hands on her shoulders. "Did he say that?"

"No, but… He got hurt because I didn't support him; because I didn't want to keep training my quirk so I could heal him."

And she didn't feel ready to use her quirk on him just yet.

She was just too afraid.

She wished she could stop being afraid.

"Eri, I need you to understand this: it's not your responsibility to keep your brother safe. That's my job," he stated firmly, staring at her so intensely it was intimidating.

She turned her head around to avoid his look.

Tamao was looking at them, specifically at her father, with sadness in her eye.

"Dad, Dabi isn't me." She sighed as she approached and helped the old man stand, handing him his cane after. "Your overcompensating is only pushing him away."

The kid stared at her in confusion.

"Oniisan is very different from Tamao-san. Why do you say that?"

The woman shared a look with her father before turning her attention to her.

"Don't worry about it," she said with a soft smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Why don't we get a head start with the food? It'd be a pity to let it go to waste after we worked so hard on it."

Eri hesitated.

There was still too much she wanted to tell her brother. Even if Duster said it wasn't her responsibility, they were each other's only family. She had to look after him like she looked after her.

But he has to 'cool off' first, right? she argued. If not he'll only get mad and not listen.

With that in mind, she nodded, her eyes briefly drifting to their room.

She hoped he wouldn't run off this time.

But she could only hope.

What is a posting schedule? XD

Here is another cameo I wasn't expecting. Like, I knew they'd meet at the entrance exams, but you weren't supposed to know yet.

Also, if you have read Vigilantes, you already know or have a vague idea of why Tamao is telling Duster "Dabi isn't me". Surprising parallelism, isn't it? I'll explain it in-verse at some point if the characters let me.

Now, the million dolar question: did Touya pass or not? Place your bets!

Disclaimer: My Hero Academia and its characters are property of Kōhei Horikoshi and Studio Bones.