Chapter 54
Present Day – Day 89
Asami sits hunched in her hospital bed with her thumb pressed to her lips as she nervously bites at her nailbed. Hawks watches with wary eyes, waiting for her to say something—anything, but she remains quiet since the president left them. He wants to console her in some way, but he doesn't even know what to say to her. She looks as though she's lost in thought—like she's plotting a response when she would work on a particularly difficult narrative she wanted to peddle.
The door to their room opens once more and before Hawks can tell whoever it is to give them a moment, he stops himself when he notices that it's Best Jeanist.
Asami looks up as the blonde hero bows respectively at the two of them. "Miss Hatsuse," he addresses her. "I am pleased to see you awake and well."
"Please," she begins with a hand up to him. "Call me Asami," she smiles at him.
"Of course," his eyes smile as his lips are hidden behind the denim of his hero costume. He stands there stiffly for a moment, eyes transferring between her and Hawks and she wonders when he will say what is clearly occupying his mind.
"Is there something I can do for you?" she asks him, seeing that he is too hesitant to state his business here.
He sighs, ripping off the band aid and saying what he needs. "I was hoping you'd be able to give me some information regarding Dabi and the League."
"Now, Jeanist?" Hawks asks with a gruff tone.
Asami turns to Hawks, seeing the furrowing in his brows as slight agitation creeps into his features for his inquiry, especially after the president's intrusion.
"It's alright," Asami smiles at him, telling him without words that she can handle the questions, though wonders for a moment if his standoffishness is for his own benefit. She turns from Hawks and looks onto the tall blonde. "How can I help?"
He nods thankfully at her willingness to help. "In his video, Dabi announced that he was Touya Todoroki."
"Video?" she questions and Best Jeanist grows stiff as he tightens his shoulders.
He glances at Hawks as the young hero has his lips pressed into a tight line. "Oh," Jeanist utters.
"I didn't want to stress her unnecessarily," Hawks informs him as he looks onto him for an explanation. Asami looks back at Hawks and the look in her eyes makes him realize that he made a mistake in keeping that information from her. It's clear that she looks disappointed by the idea that he kept information from her.
"What's on this video?" she asks Hawks, her heart beating erratically at the idea of what could possibly be on a video that Dabi released without her knowledge. Suddenly the mention of the project with Skeptic begins to make sense, but she wonders why he kept her from it. "Let me see it," Asami decides rather than having the contents explained to her.
Hawks moves to argue, but she shakes her head at him, determined to know what is on the video. Best Jeanist pulls out his phone and after typing something out, he hands it to her. She takes the phone into her bandaged hands and presses play. She sees Dabi sitting shirtless on a disheveled couch and she already begins picking apart the video.
She knows the tactics he's playing at as she watches his movements. The ripped and stained couch are supposed to represent the poverty-stricken life he's been forced into, even though they were living well while at the villa under the Liberation Army. Being shirtless is clearly to show off the state of his body being the direct consequences of Endeavor's hunger towards building the perfect offspring to withstand both a fire and ice Quirk.
She begins listening to Dabi as he explains to the world his childhood. She frowns as she hears the genuine sorrow cracking at his tone as he relives growing up under the Todoroki household. She feels herself being moved all over again by his story and wonders how the average consumer reacted to this retelling.
The video changes from Dabi's background to Hawks and Asami hunches her shoulders as if subconsciously trying to shield him from watching the video. Dabi brings up Twice's death and Asami closes her eyes as she refuses to witness his death once more, only…
"Stop it! You're killing him!"
Asami's brows furrow as her eyes open and she watches the video to see herself crying and reaching out to beg him to stop, only the way the video is edited it's as though she's begging Hawks to stop killing Twice. "… He still killed him," Dabi's voice narrates.
"No! Jin!" Asami watches with parting lips and furrowed brows as she witnesses an edited version of what happened that day.
"He's completely fabricated this," Asami shakes her head.
Hawks wants to stop her from watching the next part, but an alternative part of him wants her to finally understand just how fucked up Dabi is. If she can see just how manipulative he is in distorting the truth of everything that happened that night than maybe she will finally see him for the psychopath that he is.
"And the girl? Sworn to protect those in need and Hawks used her as a shield when I retaliated against him."
"No," Asami breathes as she shakes her head when she watches the video. Goosebumps wrack her entire frame as she hears the visceral scream from that moment. Everyone in the room grows stiff when she's heard screaming on the speakers of the tiny screen.
The public relations part of her begins running around in her head with ideas of how she would explain this away to an outraged public but the part of her that was there that day—the part of her that lived this—is completely broken at how he could have done this.
"Why…" she tries to ask herself why Dabi would do this, but she knows the answer to that. This is the perfect tactic to get the public to hate Hawks, and with the outcome cut out, they will never see that he begged her to wake up or that Dabi turned his flames onto her.
Asami discards the phone as the recording returns to Dabi on the couch and to his leveled and calculative tone. She can't look at him as a conniving manipulator after everything they've been through.
She thought that maybe he would be devastated if he believed that she was dead. She thought that it would do something to him to learn that someone he loved was burned by his flames but in the end, she was just an obstacle on his journey towards ending Shouto and his father. Once she was dead, he was finally free to do as he pleased again.
"I'm sorry you had to see that," Best Jeanist's voice is genuine as he takes the phone from her hands. When she doesn't say anything to him, he continues, "I was hoping you could prepare me for the aftermath this video has caused. Naturally, with this information coming out the way that it did, there has been some civil unrest."
"Dabi believed that you were dead?" she caught before turning the video off.
Best Jeanist nods, "It was a plan that Hawks and I came up with when he requested my body in exchange for your safety." Asami scoffs and shakes her head in disbelief, but doesn't say anything on the topic. "Dabi clearly falsified the encounter between Hawks and Twice, I am wondering if—in your experience with the man—anything else on the tape was fabricated."
Asami's eyes slide over to Hawks' golden gaze as he watches her with upturned brows. He gives her a saddened smile, showing her that he is here for her as much as he can be. She turns her gaze back to Jeanist as she explains, "Dabi is Touya," she tells him as she told the president. "There were things that he… he knew about our past…" she struggles on her words because when she says them, she thinks about their past and her memories that make her look at him in a sympathetic light all over again.
"And the accusations regarding abuse under the home?" Best Jeanist presses when he sees Asami halt.
"He beat me every fucking day of my life," Dabi's voice echoes in the back of her head and the memory of that night makes her want to cry all over again.
"Y—yes," her voice croaks as it refuses to cooperate. She clears her throat and continues, "Endeavor believed it was—" she stops herself, not willing to explain Endeavor's actions. "Where is Endeavor?" she asks him.
"He's finally come to," Jeanist informs her. "He is currently with his family."
"I need to see them," Asami decides quickly and Jeanist blinks down at her. She can't speak ill of Endeavor when he isn't here to defend himself, and she refuses to recount the lifestyle of the Todoroki's that was kept swept away when she was there visiting. She needs to see them and she needs to tell them about…
She clenches her fists, thinking about the child growing inside of her. For a moment, she had completely forgotten about it, but no matter how hard she tries to bury the reality of her situation, the fact remains that the child she's carrying is their kin as much as hers.
Asami pulls the covers off of her legs, making a move to get up because if she doesn't face them now, she will never find the strength to do so.
Hawks quickly lifts himself to his feet before moving towards her bed. "Are you sure about this?" he questions with outreached hands. "It's gonna be a bitch to get up," his scratchy voice croaks out. "You should rest."
"I've rest plenty," she grumbles as she reaches out for his arms to help her.
Hawks sighs, seeing there's no point to arguing with her and nods to help her out of bed. He hugs her close to his chest and she rests her cheek against his pecks. She can't help but inhale and take in his scent, feeling warm in his embrace. Hawks wraps his arms around her shoulders, being mindful of her bandaged back and allowing her to reach her arms around him.
She swings her legs over the edge of the bed, slowly placing the pads of her toes onto the cold hard ground. She begins to slowly distribute her weight onto her feet as Hawks steps back gradually to allow her room to lift herself up.
She feels as though thousands of daggers are piercing her feet and she wants to return to the bed, but she knows that she needs to do this. Asami falls into Hawks' chest when she tries to take a step forward, but he is quick to catch her.
"Easy," he coos with a soft whisper that his voice almost sounds normal. "I've got you," he assures her with a soft hug.
She nods in his chest and clutches onto his forearms for strength. She groans when she pivots all her weight off of the bed and onto her feet. She stands there for a moment in Hawks' arms, hugging him tightly as she buries her face in his chest.
Hawks places a hand on the back of her head, brushing his palm down her short hair. "You can do this."
His words make her want to cry because this is the last thing that she can do. She just wants to stay here and pretend none of this ever happened. She wants to go back to before this all happened; to where the biggest worry was which speech Endeavor would like for the Billboard Charts. But she can't and as much as it hurts, she needs to bury that life and wake up to the reality she's faced with.
Asami takes a shaky step forward, focusing on the sounds of Hawks' soft whispers that encourage her to continue. She curls in her lips and bites down on them to keep herself from crying out in pain.
After a while of Hawks getting her I.V. on a stand and her refusing to use a wheelchair, they finally make their way out into the hallway. Asami's eyes scan the area with widened shock. She figured the healthcare system would be bogged down with the injured from the war, but this…
So many people litter the hallways groaning in pain, waddling from one destination to the other, or lying on the ground waiting for aide. Healthcare professionals are scattered throughout the halls, running from patient to patient with a fearful look on their faces. They weren't prepared for this amount of injured, and as the days pass, more and more people are brought in needing their aide.
"There's so many…" Asami whines, unable to even finish her statement as she clings onto the I.V. stand.
"Yeah," is all Hawks can say because he doesn't know what to tell her. Japan has fallen into complete disrepair, despite both of their efforts to keep it intact. It makes them both wonder if it was all worth it in the end.
With every step that Asami takes towards the family, she feels a heaviness crushing down on her. She remembers the panic pumping through her when Fuyumi found out that Asami was desperately in love with Touya. Back then, she received the news with smiles and excitement at the idea of them being sisters one day. The idea of marrying Touya made them both happy at the future it would hold but now… Asami doesn't even know where to begin but all she does know is that she should be the one to tell Fuyumi about the baby.
Asami must have blacked out, because when she buries the thought of the child into the deepest depths of her head and focuses back on her surroundings, they are suddenly facing the door to of Endeavor's room.
She clenches and unclenches her fingers nervously as she feels her blood stiffening and tensing up her body. She tries to remind herself that she has her Quirk again, but she feels like she doesn't even remember how to use it anymore.
She feels a hand grasp her shoulder and she looks over to see Hawks' scarred fingers gripping her comfortingly. She turns her head over her shoulder more to look back at him and see his pressed smile. She releases a labored breath as she turns back to the door. She isn't strong enough to do this, and this is the last place that she wants to be.
Her hand shakes as she lifts it to the door. She wants to ask Hawks to open it for her, and she knows he would if she did, but she needs to find some strength in this moment and do it herself.
The door opens slightly as she peaks through the barricade to see all the members of the Todoroki Family gathered around Endeavor's hospital bed. Her mouth immediately dries and she goes to take a step away from them in retreat when they hear her moving and turn towards her.
When Asami's eyes reach the older siblings' she releases a soft breath, not realizing she was holding it in.
Natsuo's shoulders immediately loosen when his fossil eyes land on hers. "Asami," he whispers in disbelief as he turns to her. Fuyumi turns her attention towards her as well as tears begin building in her eyes. Natsuo quickly moves for her, rushing to her side and crashing his body into hers with a tight hug. His arms wrap around her arms and squeeze her against his muscular frame.
Hawks looks down, noticing Asami's fist clenching at her sides and he winces at the pain she must be feeling from his tight hug against her burned back. He lifts his hand to speak when Fuyumi joins Natsuo in clinging onto their friend.
"I'm so happy you're alright," Fuyumi mumbles into Asami's hair as she hugs onto her friend around her brother's arms.
Asami feels tears burning against her cheeks both from the pain of these two hugging onto her too tightly, but also from the mixed emotions of seeing them again. Her arms finally find their strength, and she returns the hug from her two friends. She buries her face in Natsuo's chest and embraces them, allowing herself to think of nothing more than this moment.
"When I saw that video I…" Natsuo's voice is rough, and doesn't sound anything like him as he fights back tears in an attempt to appear strong for her.
Fuyumi speaks over him. "That doesn't matter anymore!" she asserts. "Nothing that maniac said was the truth!" Natsuo frowns at his sister, knowing that this has been a topic of contention between them, but neither of them wants to get into it now that Asami is here.
The white-haired girl looks onto her friend with a soft smile on her face. She reaches for the edges of her frayed purple strands with a small sigh, noticing the frown on Asami's face when she touches her hair.
Fuyumi holds onto Asami with a one-armed hug as she turns her attention to the rest of the family. Asami's eyes scan the room when they land on Rei. She looks down to see the matriarch of the Todoroki family holding the blue flowers from her hospital room in her hands. Asami has half of a mind to tell Rei those flowers that she clutches onto so dearly are from the murderous son that they are here to discuss, but she keeps her lips sealed.
Her eyes move away from their mother to the youngest of the family. When her eyes reach Shouto she feels her heart drop when she sees the boy's bandaged face covering the same burns that cover her body.
"Little Shouto will die by my flames, and dear ol' dad will get to watch as his failure of a son destroys his legacy."
His voice creeps into her skull like an itch that will not subside. She remembers that night that he told her his plan. She remembers the smile on his face as he played with the idea of killing his kid brother in front of his father, and the promise of killing her first.
Asami wants to take Shouto into her arms and apologize for everything that's happened to him. He's just a kid, and he shouldn't have to see this happen to his family.
It seems that Dabi made good on all his promises, or at least he put effort into it. Considering what Hawks said about her being burned more than when he was swept away by Tokoyami and the state that both Endeavor and Shouto are in, it's clear that Dabi wanted her dead in order to end them as well.
Asami buries the memories of that night. She shuts away the memory of getting wet for him after such a vile pledge he made to kill her and his family.
"I choose you, Touya!"
She shuts her eyes tightly and refuses to remember that night.
When her eyes open once more, they are on Endeavor. Waves of conflicting feelings crash into her as she looks onto those piercing turquoise eyes that make her willpower want to crumble. Initially she looks onto the crying man with sympathy as her heart aches for him.
For years Asami was the voice of Endeavor; she would determine every public statement the man would make, she would curate his responses, his schedule, his interviews. Everything that Endeavor was, she was behind pulling at the strings. Even during times that were particularly difficult towards his ego—such as the fall of All Might—Endeavor's hardened exterior never cracked for her. But now he's completely shattered and she can't find herself feeling sorry for him.
Asami is brought back to the night of her birthday. She thinks about Touya on top of her, yelling at her and threatening to take over her body for his own. He was manic and in a delirium of emotions that he couldn't control as he was brought back to the memories of his father taking his mother's body away from her. He was strong enough not to hurt her like his father did his mother. So how was he the villain and Endeavor the hero?
Asami's mind is shattering and she tries to gain control of it. Dabi has killed so many people. He is not innocent in this. She just can't seem to remind herself of that after all the suffering she's seen from him.
A strange wave of emotions flows through Asami when she looks onto Endeavor. Since the beginning of her capture, she promised Dabi that Endeavor would find her and save her. She counted down the days until she would be rescued by the heroes, only there was a point where she began to dread the idea. Now, looking at Endeavor, she almost wishes she was back—
"I'm so sorry, Asami!" Rei says as she falls to her knees in an apologetic display. "To all of you," she beseeches. "For everything that my son did to you," she finishes.
"Please, there's no need," Hawks informs her as Best Jeanist makes a point to lift her from her kneeled plea, while Asami stands there frozen at the sight.
"Mom," Fuyumi grumbles, "He's not—"
"Fuyumi, don't," Natsuo warns under his breath.
She rolls her eyes behind the confines of her glasses as Asami side-eyes her. Asami parts her lips, ready to ask what is going on when Best Jeanist speaks before her.
"We are only here to inquire about Dabi, but felt eavesdropping was rather criminal like illegal denim," he begins. "We would like to hear from the source on your response to all of this."
"I have seen the video," Endeavor's deep voice sounds all the deeper from his days-long sleep and Asami hardly recognizes it.
"There's nothing to respond with," Fuyumi begins.
"Fuyumi, stop," Natsuo argues with her.
"I won't," she stands her ground as she glares at her brother. "That video was a lie and we all know the truth," she asserts.
"It wasn't all a lie," Natsuo sneers under his breath as he side-eyes his father.
Fuyumi disregards her brother's reaction and turns to Best Jeanist. "We will have a statement prepared promptly to address the heinous lies that were told on that video," she informs him. "With Asami here we can write up—"
"What are you saying?" Asami finally speaks up as she looks at Fuyumi with slightly widened eyes.
Fuyumi returns the confused look at her friend as everyone in the room tenses at the growing tension in the room. "The video," Fuyumi begins, "That maniac is trying to destroy our family with these awful falsities."
Asami looks away from Fuyumi and onto Natsuo to see if she is hearing her correctly. As her eyes reach each member of the Todoroki family, she realizes that this isn't some joke and Fuyumi truly believes that Dabi is not Touya.
"Fuyumi," Asami begins with an incredulous shaking of her head. "Dabi is…" she tries to find the words but she doesn't even know what to say. It's simple, there is no point in elaborating any further than just saying, "Dabi is Touya."
Fuyumi takes a step away from Asami as her face distorts with a look of disapproval building in the bridge of her nose. "No," she begins with a shake of her head. "Everything he said on that video was wrong. Best Jeanist is alive, and Hawks would never use you as a human shield."
Fuyumi continues but Asami can no longer hear her as a ringing begins deafening her senses. She feels a sharp pain stabbing her in the eye and through the head as she tries to even think straight.
It's then when Natsuo perks up and realizes what's going on. "Fuyumi," he begins as he places a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "He's Touya."
"What do you mean, Natsuo?"
"Look at her," he says motioning to Asami to show the shocked and pained look on her face.
Fuyumi stops herself and really looks at Asami for the first time since she entered the room. She can see the hurt lacing her eyes as she watches Fuyumi refuse to recognize the truth. She doesn't understand why Asami would care so much as to why she refuses to acknowledge that Dabi is Touya when it finally strikes her and she takes a step away from her friend.
"You fell for him?" she questions with a layer of disgust in her tone that Natsuo winces at. Asami shudders at her tone and that just makes Fuyumi shake her head in disbelief. "You fell for him?" she repeats as she thinks of the vile and revolting man on the video. "How?" she questions her as tears fall down Asami's cheeks. "How could you have feelings for someone so… so… so…" she shakes her head trying to find the most horrific words to describe a man worse than anything she can conjure up.
"Because he's Touya," Natsuo explains and Asami blinks up at him as Fuyumi turns to him. "Because no one held a candle to Touya in her eyes," he says sadly as Hawks' eyes reach the ground.
"Touya is dead!" Fuyumi snaps and the whole room looks at her as tears fall down her eyes. "He's dead and that murderer isn't him!"
Fuyumi cannot handle as everyone stands in the room tries to justify the man being their brother and she stomps out of the room with tears building in the corner of her eyes. Asami closes her eyes as she passes her, feeling the hot tears fall down her cheeks as she disappears.
There is a heavy stillness around them until the voice of Endeavor calls out to Asami. Her bloodshot eyes lift to his, seeing the pain in his as he asks, "Is it true?"
She contemplates lying and telling them that Dabi is not Touya. She isn't sure what reality would be worse. She felt the same overwhelming wave of emotions when she realized that Dabi was Touya on their birthday. Pretending that he's not Touya would mean that they young boy did in fact die on that mountain. But admitting that Dabi is in fact Touya brings the reality that the boy they all grew up loving and caring for, is a murderous villain responsible for the death of so many innocent lives.
"Yes," Asami finally croaks out as her throat tightens around her words. "I'm sorry," she says with eyes tightly shut because she doesn't know what else to say to that.
"No," Endeavor's voice calls out to her apologetically and she looks back at the man. "I'm sorry," he states. "Had I not been…" he stops himself because he doesn't even know where to begin. He can apologize for the abuse they all faced, he can apologize for his actions that bore the beginnings of Dabi, he can say anything but none of it brings back the victims of Dabi's flames, or the dynamic of the family.
"Yeah, you were a real piece of shit," Natsuo states and Endeavor gasps at his son's harsh tone. "But none of that matters now," he tells him. "We need to move our intentions to the path ahead," he directs them. "We need to figure out this situation with Dabi, and then, maybe when this is all taken care of, I can have Soba with Shouto, and Asami can tell me all about Hawks."
Asami bites down on her cheek with a painful hold, unable to see a reality where they can all gather around the dinner table with smiles on their faces like none of this ever happened.
"We need to unite," Best Jeanist jumps on Natsuo's sentiments as he continues speaking with Endeavor. "You, myself, and Hawks; the top three heroes must come together and address the accusations brought forth by Dabi. We need to uplift the people of Japan and instill security into their minds once more."
"It's hell out there, Endeavor," Hawks continues Best Jeanist's thoughts. "Tartarus has fallen and villains are raging in the streets." Asami turns to him as he continues. "We need to remind civilians that the heroes have not fallen. The people of Japan need to believe that you are here for them."
Asami turns her gaze to Endeavor, seeing that he was watching her the entire time. He is looking to her as he always has in these moments. She is his voice in this all and he is waiting for her for his next action. She takes in a deep breath, wanting so desperately to hate him for everything he's done to Touya and his family, but he knows that at this point, that is not what is best for everyone involved.
"Japan needs it's Bringer of Peace," Asami speaks up. She smiles at him, but there is no joy behind her gesture. She's broken as much as anyone else in this room, but she is putting on the façade because it's what needs to be done. Action against these words to show the civilians that Endeavor is atoning for the hellish past he created.
He is not the monster he once was; he only hopes that one day he will be able to show Touya that.
Natsuo sighs next to Asami as he walks with his hands held behind his head. He moves in step with her as she walks carefully out of the room. He looks down at her, frowning when he sees how tight her body is and the look of nothingness weighing in her gaze. He recognizes the look in her eyes as the one they held for years after Touya's death. She didn't regain the light in her eyes until she started to date Hawks.
"Well, that was a shitty talk," he tries to make conversation with her as they walk in tandem. She responds with a simple nod and he continues. "Hey, Fuyumi will come around," he promises her. "I know it's hard for her," he sighs, "We all came to terms with… his death…" he struggles on his words as he sees that Asami is dejected from this conversation and he isn't sure if his words are making it better or worse for her.
Natsuo looks back at the door of his father's hospital room to see that Hawks and Best Jeanist stayed behind to discuss more about how they would manage the imminent press conference. He knows that it's doing no one any favors to dance around the subject so Natsuo just comes out with what he is thinking and hopes that he doesn't offend Asami.
"That guy at your birthday dinner was the one from the video, yeah?" he begins, "The one that Hawks…" his voice tappers off as he can't bring himself to say it. Asami still refuses to look at him and he knows that he just needs to get to the point. "He seemed like he was a nice guy," he finally lets out. "You seemed to be… friends with him?" Asami finally looks at Natsuo and he frowns down at her. "My condolences I guess is what I am trying to get at," he says and Asami looks away from him with a simple nod.
Natsuo groans as he rubs his face with the palm of his hand. "I hate dancing around like this with you," he says bluntly and it makes her tense even more. "Asami, you're like a sister to me, and I hate seeing you walk around here like some zombie. Please, talk to me!" he begs her almost childlike as he's desperately calling out to her.
"I'm pregnant, Natsuo," Asami lets out in such a bland tone that Natsuo questions if he heard her correctly. "I'm pregnant and it's Dabi's," she says finally looking at him. "I'm carrying a child that I never wanted, fathered by a villain that's killed dozens of people. I feel like I am tearing apart at the seams. I chose to have this kid because I thought it would give me some kind of control, but I'm just continuously reminded that I've never been in control of my life."
She shakes her head as she continues walking down the hall to a destination, that she has no clue of. "Hawks can't look at me the same, and I can't blame him. Fuyumi's unwilling to admit that Touya is alive," she stops walking and looks at Natsuo with desperate eyes. "Shouto… fuck, he's covered in scars that show just how awful Dabi is and I can't help but think…" she bites on her lip, trying so hard not to let out what she has been thinking. She's been thinking about it since she first opened her eyes to this reality.
She begins crying as the realization strikes her. "I want to go back," she divulges to Natsuo. She doesn't want to go back to before the Billboard charts. "I want to go back to him."
The confession falls heavy on her chest and she's repulsed with herself for even wanting to go back to someone who is capable of doing something like that to someone as innocent as Shouto. This entire time she's been trying to convince herself that she's relieved to be here, that Dabi was vile towards her but she wants to scream the truth. She's still in love with Touya… with Dabi, and she wants nothing more than to return to him.
Natsuo doesn't react in the way that Asami expects him. She honestly expects him to be ashamed of her and revolted by her confession before scolding her into thinking about this clearly, but he doesn't. He just frowns and pulls her into a tight hug.
Asami scoffs in his chest as she shakes her head against him. "Why don't you hate me for that?" she asks him as she muffled against his shirt.
"Because he's still Touya," he tells her as he pats her head. "That doesn't justify his actions and he needs to pay for what he's done, but he'll always be my brother."
Asami feels her tears staining Natsuo's shirt as she stares straight into the damp fabric. Though no one may understand what she went through while we was with the League, it's clear that Natsuo is trying.
"Don't tell any of them, okay?" she asks him as she continues to look onto the fabric of his shirt, unable to look him in his eyes. "I'll have to tell them at some point, I know. But I just need time, okay?"
Natsuo places his hand on her cheek, lifting her face to look him in the eyes. He smiles at her with a warm smile that makes her want to melt in his eyes. "I've already told you, if you want something quiet you go to me," he says and Asami wraps her arms around his muscular frame.
Present Day – Day 92
Dabi smiles as he looks up at the ceiling of the safe house that they've located for themselves. It's one of the many that fivehead cock sucker had set up for them should anything go south. He groans as he readjusts himself on the uncomfortable couch that he's placed himself on.
"You should'a seen his face, Butterfly," he muses as he chuckles at the thought. "The flaming shithead was so horrified at the sight of me!" he shakes his head with astonishment. "He didn't even recognize me. Like it wasn't even a possibility that I could be his beloved eldest son!"
Dabi shuts his eyes, as he recreates that moment over and over again. "I wish I could'a gotten that tech geek to film it," he states, "I would've shown it to you, would've gotten a kick outta it."
She hums in response and he looks down at her. He's greeted by the top of her purple head of hair as it bobs up and down. He groans as he tilts his head at the sight, taking it in with bright eyes. A devious smile touches his mismatched lips as he watches her lips wrap around his hardened cock.
"Look at me, Butterfly," he asks her and she hums in response. He snatches her long purple hair and pulls her lips off of his dick to force her to look at him.
"I can't really suck your dick if you break my neck," she snidely responds to him with narrowing lavender eyes. Dabi chuckles at her feisty tone and gives her hair another soft tug. "Plus, all your talking is distracting me," she grumbles.
"Maybe I just wanna talk," he shrugs at her.
"No, you just like the sound of your own voice," she teases him with a playful smile.
"I also like the sound of yours, choking on my cock," he says grabbing her hair once more and forcing her back onto his hardened shaft. He can feel her teeth graze his head and he tightens his fingers against the baby hairs around her nape in response. "Don't do anything stupid now," he warns her with a tone that's anything but sinister.
He sighs as he shuts his eyes at the sensation. "It's pretty fucking pathetic isn't it, Butterfly?" he asks her. Here he is, shutting his eyes and pumping his dick as he desperately clings to the idea that she is still here with him. The farther he plumets into his mind, the clearer the vision of her here is for him. If he shuts his eyes tighter, his hand is her lips, the voice in his head is hers, and she's not dead but here laying on top of him like none of this happened.
But when he opens his eyes and looks down, she's not there and he's faced with the reality that she never will be again.
He can't finish because he can't think of anything but the crippling truth that she is gone. He should've left with her. He should've burned that fucking chicken and left with her when he had the chance. He doesn't care how pissed she would be that he burned her hero lover; she would get over it in time. They would have a farm in the countryside with a baby in her belly swelling up her fantastic tits, and she would never think about that cuck Hawks ever again.
"I miss you," his voice cracks at the confession as the burned skin around his staples begins to pull painfully taut. "I'm sorry."
Dabi gives up on his attempt to get off and decides to join the rest of the League, or what's left of it. The little psychopath has been taking the loss of Twice probably the worst of the group, and goes out on walks on her own. He wonders if she's trying to get herself caught, or if she's just so lost in her sorrow that she doesn't care about anything anymore.
Crusty has lost his marbles as well, not to mention that walking nutsack has taken over his consciousness. Shigaraki doesn't seem to be himself since the war, and if Dabi cared any about him, he might be worried about his deteriorating mental state.
The scaly bastard seems to be the only one with all his marbles in tact after the war. Though the loss of Compress and Twice hit him hard, he seems to be the last think holding the League together. Members of the Meta Liberation Army are of the same sentiments as Dabi and are eager to fight the heroes while they're down. Dabi is desperate to find Endeavor and Shouto and send them to the grave along with himself. Once he's dead, he can finally find his lover.
When Dabi enters the common room that everyone gathers in, he can hear something as though someone is watching TV. He looks around to see Skeptic viewing something from his computer.
"Thought the heroes could track that or something," Dabi lazily states as he points at the computer.
Skeptic scoffs at the white-haired villain. "Please," he rolls his eyes. "I'm no novice." Dabi rolls his eyes back at him, moving to depart from the man when he calls out to him. "I do believe this would be of some interest to you."
Dabi isn't really in the mood to see what he's talking about as he holds out the laptop to him, but he sighs and grabs hold of it to see what has the man's attention.
When his lidded bright turquoise eyes land on the computer they widen at the image returned to him. There in all their pitiful glory stand Endeavor, Hawks, and Best Jeanist at a press conference to explain the accusations that Dabi laid out for all of the world to see.
"He spoke the truth," Endeavor's voice draws Dabi in. "And for what I've done, I cannot apologize enough." He bows over the table he stands at, showing forth his sympathies as he leaves the crowd speechless with the reality that he told the truth and did not dodge the question of abuse.
A smile reaches Dabi's lips as he practically salivates to see what is to come of him with his half-baked apology. And as they should, the room of reporters begin erupting in shouts and cries critiquing the simplicity of the apology and demanding more of an explanation or response to the villain's claims towards abuse.
"What do you mean he spoke the truth?" a reporter questions. "Best Jeanist stands before us now, so there was clearly information the villain fabricated."
It's Boy-Wonder who speaks now as he straightens his back at the comment. Dabi can't help but smile at the nasty scar creeping up the left side of the pretty boy's face that will infinitely remind him of the villain that overpowered him.
"Best Jeanist and I worked together to convince Dabi and the League that I was on their side by turning in his body as a display of loyalty." Dabi scoffs, knowing from the start that the bird was never a sympathizer towards their cause, and though he was foolish enough to believe the body was legit, he never allowed the hero to gain the upper hand on him.
"So Best Jeanist being dead was a lie, but Endeavor's history of abuse was the truth?" A reporter asks skeptically.
"Yes, ma'am," Hawks answers her.
"And the girl on the video? Our reports have identified her as Asami Hatsuse; a former employee of yours and current employee of Endeavor." Dabi finds his jaw tightening at the mention of her.
The blonde on the video loosens his shoulders as he looks out into the crowd. "Asami is my girlfriend. Dabi had kidnapped and used her as leverage against me so that I wouldn't turn against him or the League. I would never use her as a shield against his flames. She ran towards the flames when she realized what Dabi was doing."
Dabi examines the hero carefully as his golden gaze does not faulter while he looks off into the crowd of reporters.
"So he told the truth in some parts and falsified others? How are we to know you didn't just pick and choose which narrative worked best for you to take the bullet for?"
Another reporter speaks up before the hero can respond, "She's your girlfriend, but you were her employer? Were you dating when she worked for you?"
"That's a gross overstep of power!"
"Did she use your relationship to promote herself to Endeavor's agency?"
"What of claims that she was a member of the League?"
"Have you heard of the Quirkless Ambassador?"
The room erupts in overlapping conversations that devalue the relationship of Hawks and Asami. He tries to regain the discussion back to his apology, "I understand everyone's frustration with this information. At the time, I believed it was best for Miss Hatsuse and I that I kept our relationship under wraps. The same sentiments go for my father's villainous past. I am sorry I withheld this information from the public," he ends with a respectful bow to the people before him.
"In the matter of Bubaigawara… I believed that I had no other choice in the moment. Had he been allowed to use his Quirk, the destruction to Japan would have been far more widespread and devastating. I made attempts to assist him with his atonement and reintegration into society should he turn himself over, but in the end, he was unwilling to see to my terms, and I acted as I saw fit in the moment that I was given. It was never my intentions to take his life, and it speaks to my lack of character for being unable to assist him."
Hawks bows once more to the reporters and for a moment, it appears that the crowd is willing to buy his shit story. Dabi grits his teeth that a few fancy words get him off for the life that he took.
"My family was killed in the destruction the villains left!" a reporter cries out. "And you want us to forget all of that because you tried your best! You're all heroes! You're supposed to save us but you're nothing but murderers, abusers, and abandoners!"
Dabi watches his father for an answer, examining his face as the reporter yells the despicable truth to him. He waits with baited breath to hear what the bastard will say to this while the reporter continues to devalue his life work.
"You say it's all true, but it does nothing to the state the republic of Japan has been reduced to! Have you left your comfortable hospital room? Have you looked outside to take in the devastation the villains left because of your incompetence? People lie dead in the streets! Homes have been leveled in an instant! How can you stand up here and say 'yes it's true, we're sorry'! Dabi's flames may have taken those lives but it was your actions that allowed a murderer like him out here in the first place! And here you stand and all you're doing is asking for forgiveness! You need to put us at ease!"
This was perfect in Dabi's eyes; the public was turning against Endeavor. He holds onto the laptop with anticipation at what that flaming shithead has to say for himself after he masterfully orchestrated this coup.
"We plan to tighten the scope of our protection needed," Endeavor begins. "By having the public gather together in designated evacuation centers where we can control and monitor—"
"You want to cattle us into a prison to make it easier on you?" another cries. "We are just expected to accept living in shelters from here on out? What is the goal in apprehending the villains? What are your plans for the villains? How will you retaliate? What does Endeavor plan to do about his villain son!"
The overlapping conversations become deafening as people begin to cry and shout and yell at the hero for the broken society he has left in his wake. The piling voices makes Dabi's heart race with unease and nervousness as he's brought back to the booming shouts of his arguing parents. He wants to revel in this instant as the moment in time that he brought down the great Endeavor, but he can't help but feel anxious all of a sudden.
"I am not All Might," Endeavor's loud voice silences the crowd as he addresses them. "I know some of you have come here today, wondering how things will be different with me as your Number One Hero. I can stand here before you and recount all the resolves I have under my belt to put you all at ease, but I know it would be wasted breath, for the fact remains that we lost our Symbol of Peace that night in Kyoto. We can all still feel the tremors of that reality to this day, and it will be a fact that will haunt us always. I stand here before you, not as a Symbol of Peace. Not to tell you that 'I am here' as a warning to all those villains who wish to take this moment of uncertainty to rise. I stand before you today as an example of what we can become in the wake of this loss. I am not here to symbolize the next generation of harmony as your new Number One Hero. But rather, a promise of what I can bring to the Japanese people as your hero. I will not allow this time of uncertainty and unrest bring forth the rise of villains. With my will and my actions, I ask you all to watch me as I bring back the peace that we lost that day. I will stand up for you all, I will bring back the peace we once held closely, I will stand up and I will never stop fighting for each and every one of you because that is what a hero means to me."
Dabi's heart races as he listens to the speech that the man recites. The unsteady beating in his heart lifts up his throat to choke him as the words fall heavy on his chest in a threat to crush him. He watches as the man looks out to the crowd with a strong conviction in his eyes, but he does not scan the crowd as he did in any other speech. He doesn't look off uninterested as he did in any other interview. His eyes are fixated on a single point in the room with a strength that plays like a promise.
This speech is not his words because they are far too rousing and inspirational than anything the old man could come up with on his own. Dabi can tell that they are hers. He can practically hear her selling this shit to him in his office before the Billboard Charts.
The fact that Endeavor undoubtedly reuses his speech from the Billboard Charts that she created for him isn't what makes Dabi feel troubled. It's not even the fact that he must go a little bit farther to get the people to hate him like he does.
What bothers Dabi more than anything is the look on his father's face; the burning in his eyes as he says these words. What makes Dabi's body temperature rise as a panic sets in, is the strong gaze of his father as he targets a single person out in the crowd, as if promising them that he will change. This is not a promise for the Japanese people in what's to come. This is a promise to her…
Suddenly Hawks' words replay in his head in a loop that he can't stop hearing.
Asami is my girlfriend.
Asami is my girlfriend.
Asami is my girlfriend.
Is…
Which can only mean one thing…
"She's alive."
A/N: The next few chapters are going to show the aftermath of the press conference and more Endeavor/Asami scenes. The chapter will also be doing a lot of time jumps so we can get that belly growing! But I hope it doesn't come off as disjointed, so I'll try my best!
Thank you all for your support as always! Shoot me your thoughts in the comments and let me know what you think is in store with these three!