Chapter Text
Shouto opened the closet, revealing the many clothes he was about to fold into his travel bag, without caring much what he was taking. Close to the door, his school materials were set into another bag as well as his hero suit case.
It’s been a week since Kamino Ward attack. After the League of Villains made clear UA was their principal target, the school opened the dorms builded in order to protect the students. The late attacks have been a low hit to the school's reputation. With the medias not letting a day pass without reminding them, the school's efficacy was question by the public. Even many parents were considering to change their children of school. With the new dorm system, now the school could keep an eye closer on the students and protect them faster.
However, Shouto and the other four students he joined to Kamino had to brace themselves to face the possibility of being expel. Because not only did they break the rules, but they also intrude in a special police operation, exposed themselves to a life threatening situation, and faced villains without owning licenses. In other words, they were doom.
So it was a surprise when his homeroom teacher came to ask for his father's permission to let him live at the dorms. Aizawa's disappointed didn't go unnoticed and Shouto would have rather deal with his furious glare than his "I expected better of you". Now that had hurt more than Bakugou's explosion.
His teacher made sure to warn him and his classmates that they would have to work harder than ever to gain back his trust. If it wasn’t for the circumstances, the school would have allow him to expel them all. Even so, Shouto would never regret have gone to help rescue his classmate. Because how could he ever call himself a hero if he had sat back at the side lines and done nothing to help someone in need?
He couldn't blame his teacher to be mad. The man went through a lot in such a short time. If anything happened to his class it would be his responsibility to hold.
But at the end, Shouto knew the group intervention helped, and thanks to them Bakugou escaped from the villains hands.
So after his teacher finished scolding him and explained all the details about the dorms, another thing happened. His father accepted letting Shouto live in UA. Shouto never thought his old man would let his precious creation go out of sight so easely. It was so unlike his usual controlling self that for a moment Shouto thought he was dreaming and would wake up into another day of his miserable life. Sure, he'd come back for the breaks, but Shouto never imagined leaving the house that earlier.
Today Shouto was moving to the dorms. He attempt to zip his last travel bag that was about to explode from the excess of clothes he put in. He might have overpacked but he wanted to make sure he had everything to not come back. Althought he wouldn’t have the misfortune to cross path with the pile of garbage of father again Shouto didn’t want to take the risk. With his current tight schedule as the newly number one hero he was never seen at home. His absence was a chance to finally breath. His sister Fuyumi would scold him for thinking that way but it would be a lie to ignore her late easiness.
His bags were already overstocked with clothes for the rest of the year. Shouto was ready to move to his new remodelled dorm he had asked permission to renovate. Luckely, his sister agreed to pay with their father's credit card and Shouto might have bought the most expensive materials that would definitely be a great surprise for his father when he’d checked his bank account.
It was time to leave. He took his bags, ready to step into his new life-
BAM!
Shouto froze, adrenaline rushing to his head. Not daring to breath, he stood quiet, his heart beat as only audible sound.
BAM!
He put his stuffs down and listened to where the source of the noise was coming. His left side begin to steam as his right side begin to chill, ready for confrontation. No one would be stupid enough to break into the house of a pro hero. But thinking back to the latest events, anything was to be expected.
BAM!
The loud hitting noise was coming from the end of the corridor.
As he got closer, with careful steps, quirks ready to unleash, the repetitive noise grew louder. He reached the end of the corridor. He ended up facing the door of a room Shouto had pass many times but never entered before.
He placed a shaky hand on the door. He exhaled and then carefully slide it open. And just when his nerves where on the verge to burst...he shut down his quirk.
The window of the room was open, hitting the outside wall caused by the blow of the wind.
Shouto let out a breath he didn't notice to be holding. Of course no one would be stupid enough to break into Endeavor’s house. That would be asking for suicide.
The recent events made Shouto more wary of his surroundings. If he was already paranoid he didn't want to think when he'd grow up. Too many things happened the last week and he didn't want to think hard on it.
He proceed to enter the room to close the window.
From the years he passed that door he never once step a foot in it. The access to his own house was limited and most of his memories were confine in his room or the training room. This was the first time he was there. It was a stocking room. There were many piles of unopened boxes of old prices and pictures of the many Endeavor's successful arrest. Nothing important.
Shouto securely locked the window. But, when he was about to leave, it opened again.
With a closer inspection, he noticed the lock was broken and it wasn't recent. There was a lot of dust everywhere that made his nose tickle. The windows looked like they hadn't been touched in a while. Now that was weird. He remembers, when he was a kid, Enji made sure to secure every window of the house. He couldn't have risk to miss one since Shouto learned from a young age that his family used to be target by criminals. His father couldn't have miss this one. Besides, it could only be open from the inside.
Unless it had been broke on purpose.
And then it hit him.
This room wasn't always a stocking room. It had the same traditional Japanese style, same dimensions, same colours, only missing a bed and furnitures and Shouto could see his own bedroom. As the realization slowly crept over him, an unsettling feeling grew inside of Shouto
This used to someone else’s bedroom. This was his bedroom. These walls contained memories of someone he had been forbidden to know. He felt like an intruder. He shouldn't be there. It wasn't his room and he didn't have the right to enter the room of someone that was dead.
"Shouto, it's time to go!" His sister's call made him snap out of his thought. He went out of room to grab his baggages. He ran down the stairs and reached the car. After putting his last baggage in the compartment, he sat to the front passenger seat.
His sister Fuyumi sat on the conductor sit and turned to face him, not even trying to hide her excitement. "Ready? Do you have everything? Did you pack your toothbrush? Do you have your suit? Did you eat well? You got my number if anything happens, don't hesitate to call me if it's urgent-"
Shouto softly interrupted her. "It's gonna be okay."
"I know, I'm just making sure you got everything."
"Fuyumi" he sight, with an annoyed expression, "it's okay."
She looked at him guilty, with a sad smile on her face. "Never thought my baby brother would leave so early. What am I gonna do now that I'll be all alone?"
"Weren't you moving with mom?"
After ten years locked in a psychiatric hospital, the doctors approved to let his mother go, saying she had recovered enough to be reintroduce to the civil life. To help her go through the process of reintroduction she had to be follow by a family member. That's when Fuyumi decided without hesitation to take charge of their mother. Although her job as a teacher wasn't the most well payed job, it would be enough to sustain the needs of two people. Shouto didn't know if his father had at least the decency to pay for financial support but wouldn't be surprise if the old bastard didn't. Now all that mattered was that his mother would start her life again, in the way to recovery, hopefully with a brighter future ahead.
"Yes, I know, but I have the right to worry" Fuyumi persisted, scolding him like a mother. Or that's what he though it should look like.
"It's only for the next three years of high school, and I'll also be back for the breaks" he reminded her.
"Still!" she blurted out. Then, her expression softened. All it transmitted was affection Shouto wasn't used to receive. It was a common look on his sister. Honest and tender, just like his mother before her sanity was far from gone. "I'm gonna miss you."
The view of the passenger window suddenly seemed interesting for Shouto. "Me too." If she noticed a small smile, she didn't comment on it. Shouto was grateful she started understanding his awkwardness.
It was weird. Any concept of sibling bonding was stranger to Shouto. Who could blame him? After years of punishment he grew afraid to try to connect with them until he lost interest. Now that their old man drop the training and strict rules, he and his siblings were trying to work out with the broken pieces left of their relationship. If there ever was one. It was hard, it was awkward, but it was something.
"Alright" she said, getting his attention, "let's check again-"
"Fuyumi" he stopped her, "I got everything. You can start the car."
"Fine, but if you forgot anything don't call me to bring it to you."
He knows she'll do it anyway.
He looks back at the house. So many painful memories, so many years of harsh training, and now he was finally getting out. He never thought he'd go out this early, and his new life scared him. All he ever knew where those imprisoning walls hiding years of screams, pain and tears.
But not anymore. He had UA, he had friends, he had a social life. He felt like he could finally breath. It would be alright.
Fuyumi started the car and begin to drive away from their house. Before the building got out of his sight, he looked back at the same window. It had open again.
So many unanswered questions and lost memories too. He never thought about his brother until now, and the lack of knowledge bothered him.
As his sister turned around a corner, the sight of their house could no longer be seen. He contemplated the landscape, having too many thoughts about the recent events. Most importantly, he had the nagging feeling of missing out something he shouldn't ignore. That feeling had now a name.
Touya.
*
Steps echoed against the walls of the shady alley where no glim of moon light reached. Darkness drowned the tall figure as he ward off the light of the streets as he stepped more into the cold pathway.
Not his first choice for a walk in the night, but the lack of disturbance compensated for the sticky smell of trash. It was a nice break from the chaos the League was used to revel in every time he set a foot at the what used to be a bar but now was only a wreck of rubble and dust. What a shame. It used to have pretty decent drinks, in Dabi's opinion.
After the Kamino Ward fight, All for One sent the League to Shigaraki's secret place. They hadn't heard anything from their boss since Kurogiri kicked everyone out through a warp. The last time they saw Shigaraki, he was holding his creepy dead hands like his life depended on them with a look consumed by madness no one ever saw before. Everyone silently agreed to not speak of it.
Now the League was temporarily dismissed with no task to do as they parted ways back into the shadows.
In the meantime, Dabi was waisting his time doing what he always did. Wandering around the streets, searching for a new place to sleep, crossing paths with petty criminals thinking they had what it took to be a villain to end up turned into a pile of ash. The usual.
To add to his annoyance, for the last week he was forced to handle a heavy headache from the massive hit that old man gave him at Kamino. He couldn't properly move his neck afterwards. What a bother.
But, he was use to deal with bad things. He knew his life choices would lead to unpleasant circumstances and he assumed it.
A good example could be the fact that he was being followed from the last five minutes.
Without giving his follower a chance, he threw his arm behind and unleashed a blast of fiery blue fire. The figure dodged it with an exceptional speed Dabi's eyes only caught it's shadow in the middle of the darkness. Whoever followed him had a speed related quirk. Not Dabi's comfort zone, but he wasn't going to give up. He was way too stubborn to do that.
He threw another blast towards his follower. But before Dabi could riposte with another blast he was pushed-no, harshly dragged into a wall of bricks, hitting his back hard.
Dabi bite down a cry. He was about to quickly push back when a sharp weapon was pointed at him.
"I'm not here to fight you".
Dabi looked up from the weapon to the face of his opponent. He smirked the moment he recognized who the mysterious bastard was. "Your actions tells something else, hero."
The newly number two hero Hawks was threatening him with what resembled of a sword ( was that a sharp feather? ) an inch away from his throat. Many other scattered sharpened feathers surrounded the hero's figure and his big red wings. They were all pointing at Dabi's direction like knife missiles ready to stab him.
"I thought it'd made you listen to me before you roast me alive-" with his free hand, Dabi shoot a blast to the hero. The asshole unfortunately flew away too fast to get turned into fried chicken. A slight smell of burnt of something else than Dabi’s own skin indicated he did manage to touch the hero.
Dabi was no fool. He knew some of the heroes’ tactics to distract their opponents. It was all about using pretty words. Make their opponent talked to gain time, elaborate a plan, and take them down. Dabi would do the same thing to them. He'd enjoy messing with the heroes through words. Enough to get a reaction from them for a split second to send a blast.
"Wait!" Hawks slowly landed facing Dabi in a respectable distance, far enough to make an escape if the villain tried to attack again. The hero raised his hands in surrender. "Just listen to me. Like I said, I don't want to fight."
Dabi's fire from his hands remained flickering. He skeptically stared at Hawks. Because, a hero trying to talk to a villain without putting up a fight first? Now that was a first.
"I have an offer the League cannot deny" Hawks announced.
Dabi considered his words with precaution. The hero was calm. Bored stare, a slight frown, with an effortless demeanor fooling anyone to believe he wasn't tense. But from Dabi’s short years of experience as a villain, he could tell when someone was hiding behind a perfect mask. The unblinking animalistic golden eyes were intensely glaring at him. From the poor light his fire was illuminating the abandoned alleyway he could see the feathers from Hawk’s wings sharpening as the sword feather. His expression was calculated. Everything about his actions were strictly well thought. Dabi had to give it to him, he was a pretty good liar. It didn't mean he could fool Dabi.
"If this is a peace offer you can either leave" he slightly flickered his fire "or burn."
"Nah" the hero said with confidence, "I got better."
They stared at each other’s, expecting. Dabi backed away from his fighting stand but kept the fire. At this, Hawks took it as a go to talk and his expression became serious.
"I've been following the League for a while. I've grown an interest on your ideals and I want to contribute."
Dabi remained silent, not showing any expression.
The hero continued. "You want to make crumble the heroic system, right? I've seen what happens behind the scenes. The corruption, the manipulation and the many moved strings for personal gain. No one knows the reality of the heroics better than I do and I don't want to work for a system that claims to be heroes when there's nothing heroic about it."
"So you want to join" Dabi mocked the hero. He light off the fire and simply walked away, turning his back to the winged hero who was stunned from the villain’s action. A risky move, but Dabi knew the guy wouldn't attack him. Not when his own benefice was at risk. "Not a chance, birdie. Piss off."
"Wow, okay, so you're gonna turn on the chance to get access to intel that is clearly out of your league?" Hawks said, almost offended by Dabi's indifference. Typical reaction from a self-centered hero not obtaining what he wants. Dabi knew his kind. Those were the most annoying ones. But also the most fun to mess with. Especially if said hero wasn't happy for not getting good results to his attempt to fool Dabi into trusting him when it was so obvious his true intentions were to infiltrate the League. It was almost offensive to think he'd fail for that trick. "I'm offering you the chance to be a step forward than the heroes" he pressed." You might not trust me but I can prove my intentions."
Dabi stopped, back still to Hawks.
He could accept his offer. He could submit the guy into a series of test that would be a pain to follow. He was impress by the willingness of Hawks to risk everything to get into the League. Just imagining all the criminal things he would do to gain his trust was sure a tempting idea; all the beneficial intel for the League's cause and the opened ways to chaos and destruction. So many possibilities, so many chances to have the upper hand and to be a step closer than the heroes.
It was tempting. Very tempting.
What a shame it wasn't in Dabi's plans.
He turned to face Hawks. It caught the hero off guard but remained on his spot. They locked eyes, not daring to bat an eye at each other’s presence.
"If Shigaraki knew you were trying to fool him" Dabi said, making sure the hero would engrave those words into his mind "he'd take your presence as an insult and decay those wings the second he lays eyes on you. So go and tell those higher up bosses of yours the League does not accept people claiming to be bad guys when they're clearly not." Then, Dabi turned around and walked away.
In the silence of the dark alley, with only the sound of his light steps, under the invading smell of burnt flesh coming from his smoking wrists, the villain doesn't stop to say the next words.
"Besides, the League already has its own traitor."