Chapter Text
It was on pure instinct that he stilled. Froze. Stopped dead in his tracks. The sound of that scream revived a long-dead reflex. Time felt like it was standing still as his brain screamed at him to protect . He hadn't done that in a long time.
Stopping turned out to be a mistake as when time started moving again he was met with a strong kick to his stomach. His vision was clouded as he burned anyone near him, uncaring of what the heat did to his skin. Despite the fighting going on around him, there was only one thing he could hear.
Sobs. Whimpers. Screams. All of them all too familiar. He knew that voice - but it was impossible, he knew that. Yet - it couldn't be anyone else.
He threw up a shield of flames as he practically ran toward the tiny figure lying curled up on the ground, drowning in a much-too-big hero suit and covering his head as he shook.
People were screaming at him, but he could barely hear them. Some were attacking him, but leaning into his instincts, they were almost too easy to push back. Nothing would stop him from reaching his goal - not even the furious roar that sent a shiver up his spine and made him want to run as far away as possible.
He fell to his knees next to Shouto, absentmindedly putting up a circle of blue fire around them and scooped his small body up into his lap, pushing his face into his chest. He carefully pried his fists open, leaving the two-toned hair a tangled mess before pressing his own hands to Shoto's ears.
"You're safe, I'm here," He whispered into his hair, kissing the top of his head. He didn't have time to question how his supposed-to-be sixteen-year-old brother had somehow gone back to being six, the only thing that mattered was the fact that he was crying. And in pain. And terrified.
Shouto trembled in his lap, his tiny fists clutching desperately at Touya's Dabi's shirt as if he would disappear if he let go.
"He's not here, you're safe. He's not here, you're safe." He said it like a mantra. Once upon a time, these were some of the words he said most. Now, they felt almost foreign on his tongue.
"I'm not going anywhere, you're safe." He stroked Shouto's cheekbones with his thumbs as he sobbed into his chest. "I won't let anyone hurt you."
He hissed as the flames licked at his skin and he internally cursed as he was forced to put them out, pulling Shouto closer and covering him as best he could with his body.
He looked up to see that everyone had stopped fighting and was now staring straight at him. Heroes and villains alike were too stunned to move a muscle. Shouto tried to lift his head, but Touya Dabi pushed him back down. As if he could sense the eyes on him, he went silent, his body still shaking as he cried.
"I won't let anyone hurt you, Shouto," He promised. Shouto whimpered. "You can cry if you need to. That's okay." He glared at everyone around them, daring anyone to take even a step closer.
"He's not here, you're safe." As he said it, his eyes fell on Endeavour who looked more furious than ever. Touya Dabi remembered the last time he'd seen that expression and his scars burned at the memory, but he couldn't back down. Protecting Shouto was more important that anything else. He looked straight into Endeavour's eyes as he repeated his words. "He's not here, you're safe."
Endeavour took one raging step forward and Touya's Dabi's right arm caught fire. Less than a second later they were put out by Eraserhead's glowing eyes. He pressed his hands harder against Shouto's ears to make sure that he wouldn't be able to hear what came next.
" Leave. Right now. You do not want to know what will happen if you take even one more step in his direction. For now, he doesn't know that you're here, and if you want to keep your job I don't think you want him to find out."
Endeavour's flames flickered as he took a stumbling step backwards.
"You! You're dead!" The attention of everyone shifted to Endeavour who was pointing an accusing finger in his direction. Despite the fear that crawled like ants under his skin, he smirked.
"You finally figured it out, did you? Well, then you know exactly how far I am willing to go." He forced his body to stay relaxed, his thumb to continue stroking Shouto's cheekbones. "This time we have an audience, I wonder whose side they would take. Are you really willing to find out?"
Endeavour glared at him, looking down on him in the same way that he'd done all of the other times that they'd found themselves in these positions - Touya wrapped around a crying Shouto and Endeavour with his body covered in fire, a silent threat hanging in the air.
"We are not done!" He roared before turning away and Touya Dabi could swear the air gained more oxygen somehow.
His exit seemed to bring life back to everyone else and the villains quickly made their escape, most of the heroes too focused on him and Shouto. He noticed Shigaraki raising an eyebrow at him before stepping through Kurogiri's portal when Dabi shook his head.
He lightened the pressure of his hands against Shouto's ears again, scratching a bit at his scalp.
"Shouto?" He prompted. Shouto whined, burying his face further into Touya's Dabi's shirt. "Hey, Sho, you've gotta tell me what's wrong." Another whine.
"Hurts," The broken whisper was silent, but Touya heard it and it was enough to shatter whatever was left of his heart. He had to take a moment to breathe, leaning his forehead on Shouto's hair, forcing the tears that were trying to make their way through his damaged tear ducts to stay away.
"Where does it hurt, love?" Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see the heroes and Shouto's classmates walking closer, most with their quirks activated, but all of his energy was being used up on Shouto and not crying - he had nothing left to fight them. It had all vanished after Endeavour left.
"It hurts," Came the answering whimper and he cried impossibly harder, the sobs so powerful they seemed physically painful.
"You're going to be okay, I promise." He bit his lip until it bled - anything to keep from crying. "Does your face hurt?" He hadn't seen much of his face, but it was enough to figure out that the 'kitchen incident' had already happened and Shouto had come to him complaining about the pain up until he left when Shouto was eight. Shouto nodded against his chest.
"I need to remove one hand from your ear, is that okay?" The heroes and children - they were children - had stopped a few metres away from them. Shouto nodded again and removed one hand from Touya's shirt to replace the hand covering his left ear. "Lean back for me a little." Shouto did as asked and Touya carefully placed his hand against the scar.
Before he did, he got a good look at his face. He'd been correct in his initial assumption. Shouto was six. Based on the way the scar and the skin around it looked, he would guess that it had gone almost three months since it happened.
Shouto sighed and tried to press closer to the cool hand, his body finally losing some of its tension and it didn't take long until his right hand dropped from Touya's shirt and the tiniest of snores could be heard. Touya couldn't help a small fond smile.
He took a deep breath before he looked up. Shouto's entire class, Eraserhead, Present Mic, Mirko and Hawks were all staring at him, some of them gaping. He saw the kid that the league had kidnapped about to open his mouth and quickly hushed him.
"Sssh! He might not be a light sleeper, but he will wake up if you yell and he really needs to rest." In any other circumstance, he might have laughed at the confounded expressions on everyone's faces, but not right now. He was very aware of the fact that he - a wanted criminal - was surrounded by heroes and heroes-in-training.
"Who the fuck are you?" Mirko elbowed Hawks hard enough for him to squawk and clutch his side. "It's a legitimate question!" Before the heroes could start arguing, Dabi sighed.
"I am willing to answer your questions, but not here." He looked around pointedly. "We're too exposed."
"I'll call Tsukauchi, ask him to send a car," Eraserhead said, taking his phone out of his pocket. "We'll go to the police station."
"Not to be like that, but is that the best place for him ?" Touya asked, nodding down at the sleeping child in his lap. "Will it be a good place for him to sleep?" Eraserhead raised an eyebrow at him.
"Bold of you to assume that he'll be staying with you." Touya mirrored his expression.
"Bold of you to assume you can separate us." He shot back. Eraserhead immediately activated his quirk. "Woah, calm down. I won't stop you taking him away from me, I'm not that stupid."
"Then what did you mean? If you won't stop us, then who will?" Mirko challenged. Touya pointedly looked down at Shouto.
"I don't know how much any of you know about children, but scared six-year-olds tend to prefer people they know and trust over strangers."
"Wha-"
"I told you I would answer your questions, and I will. But not here. It won't be long until the entire underground has found out that the Number One Hero's son has been turned into an easy target." It was silent for a few seconds.
"We'll go to UA. One of you should have some quirk-cancelling cuffs, right?" Eraserhead turned to the other heroes. Hawks took a pair out of his jacket pocket. "Good. Cuff him, but keep his hands free." Present Mic looked as if he were about to protest. "Trust me."
Eraserhead called Nedzu and it wasn't long until a number of cars showed up. Eraserhead had Dabi carry Shouto to one of them and they were off to UA. Eraserhead didn't say a single word throughout the twenty-minute journey and Dabi wasn't about to either. Even though he knew there would be no avoiding Tartarus when this was all over, he couldn't help but feel content with Shouto sleeping peacefully in his lap.
When they arrived, he was led into 1-A's dorms and ordered to sit down on one of the loveseats. As he did, he took the blanket that hung on the back and placed it over Shouto. It made him feel unbearably hot, but it was worth the way that Shouto sighed against him.
Eraserhead stayed silent until the entire class and the three heroes had all entered the room. It had given Dabi the chance to look around. For a high-school dormitory commons, it was quite nice. He could clearly see that a lot of decorations were things that the students had added themselves; group photos on the walls and shelves, a mug on the coffee table that said hand crusher, mismatched, but cosy-looking pillows and blankets, obviously home-made Eraserhead merch.
"So we're doing this with everyone here?" He asked once it was clear that no one was leaving. Some had sat down, some stood up, but there was no doubt that they were all staying. "Cool. I have one rule for now, do not wake him. With that said; ask away."
"Who are you?" Eraserhead asked. He was pretty sure he could hear Hawks mutter 'I told you it was a legitimate question' to Mirko. He smirked.
"I am Dabi."
"I meant, what is your real name?"
"Do you still have one if you're legally dead?"
"What?" Present Mic was frowning.
"You heard me. I have been legally dead for eight years. Do I still have a name?" Mirko stepped closer.
"If that's how you want to play, then fine. What was your name before you were declared dead?" She was smirking, she really thought she had him now, didn't she?
"Oh, there are so many to choose from," He sighed. "Disappointment, Failure, Fucking Brat, Defective Chi-"
"You said you would answer our questions," Eraserhead hissed. Dabi shrugged.
"I am. If you're looking for a more specific answer, you will have to ask a more specific question."
"Before you were declared dead, what was your legal name?" The green-haired kid that Toga was obsessed with asked.
"Touya." He saw Hawks' hand twitch. "Todoroki Touya."
"You're Todoroki's older brother," Greenie whispered.
"Isn't his older brother's name Natsuo? And haven't we seen him before?" The gravity girl that Toga was also obsessed with said. Greenie shook his head.
"Endeavour's tried to bury everything, but Todoroki used to have another brother, an even older one. His name was Touya and he died in a quirk accident eight years ago. The details are very vague and the only remains ever found was a piece of his lower jaw-" Touya found himself touching his jaw, remembering the pain. "-and while it is possible for the body to have been cremated, cremation takes time and quirks automatically deactivate when the user dies, so it is highly unlikely unless someone else were to have done the cremating which completely disproves the notion that it would have been a quirk accident which leaves the only two possibilities being that as I said, either someone else cremated the body, or Touya is still alive so it is entirely possible that he is telling the truth." Does the kid even breathe?
"Wow," He laughed. "You sure can talk." Greenie blushed and rubbed at his neck.
"Sorry, I didn't realise I was doing it again," He said, seemingly embarrassed at what he'd done.
"Don't apologise unless you've done something wrong. You seem to know a lot about me, at least from before I died." He didn't phrase it as a question, he didn't have to.
"I've done a lot of research on the Todorokis." Greenie looked at Shouto.
"You're trying to help him, aren't you, kid?" Greenie nodded. "Thank you. Just be careful. Endeavour's a powerful man, and he's got the commission at his back."
"Okay, not to interrupt whatever that was, but what the fuck? You're alive?" Hawks' tone was accusing, his eyes were looking him up and down, searching. For what, Dabi didn't know.
"Yes, Pretty Bird. I'm alive. Exactly how many people my age with my quirk did you think exist in Japan? I was half convinced that they'd wiped your memories." Hawks' fists were clenched and his feathers were twitching.
"I- my bir- I mean. I didn't know what to- if it were true, then- I just-. How are you alive?" His voice was shaking. He would not ignore the implication that the bird part of Hawks recognised him.
"I don't know," He answered honestly. It had been fun to tease them at first, but with the horrified looks everyone had given Greenie when they heard about the jaw and the way that the Number Two Hero was breaking down, he figured it was time to get serious.
"What do you mean you don't know?" One of the children asked. It wasn't the kid they kidnapped or one of the ones Toga was obsessed with, so he didn't bother to find out who.
"I mean that after I died, there are three years worth of memories missing. All I remember is pain, bright lights and the smell of antiseptic. I also now have a strong fear of doctors that I have no idea where it came from. I think we can all make some assumptions based on that." 'Strong fear' was an understatement, but it was enough to paint a picture. "Greenie was right, when I died, I somehow lost a piece of my jaw. I can't remember how, my only memory of the actual event is the pain. Let me tell you, burning alive is not something you want to experience." he couldn't hold back a shudder.
Shouto squirmed in his sleep, a small frown appearing on his face. Touya smoothed a thumb over his forehead before carding his fingers through his hair. It didn't take Shouto long to relax again.
"I have even more questions now than I did before." Eraserhead massaged his temples. "Could you tell us what you meant by what you said to Endeavour?"
"I was expecting to do this in a much more dramatic way and preferably on live television, but whatever." He sighed. "Endeavour is not a good person. He is not a good hero either, it is beyond me how he could possibly be number two, how he's even allowed to keep doing what he does, but that's the commission for you."
He told them about how Endeavour's only goal was to beat All Might, to be number one. He told them about how when he realised that he wouldn't ever be able to, he bought their mother to create the perfect child to do it for him. He told them about the abuse that Endeavour put them through under the guise of 'training', about the neglect toward Fuyumi and Natsuo, about how he drove their mother insane and about her being the cause of Shouto's scar.
"Nothing really changed after she was sent to the hospital. By the time I was twelve, she was like a ghost. Fuyumi did all of the cooking, cleaning, and laundry. She basically raised Natsuo. None of us were really allowed near Shouto, but I did it anyway. I made sure that he ate and slept, I kept him clean, I soothed his nightmares, I took care of his wounds, I helped him with homework and I protected him as best I could from Endeavour. Fuyumi and I basically became parents while we were still children ourselves."
He told them about the years leading up to his death, about how after he had completely dismissed Touya as a successor, he became more and more ruthless in his punishments. When he reached the day of his death, he had to take some deep breaths.
"Fuyumi and I argued that morning. I had been compiling evidence of the abuse and I was begging her to come with me to the police, but she refused. She, for some reason, still believed that he would change, that we could be a family 'again' as if we ever were one. I got so angry I stormed out. I left the house and I went to the police station. I talked to a detective that seemed to actually take me seriously, and for the first time in ages, I had hope. Maybe we would finally be saved! All of that hope was crushed when I got home."
The police station had called Endeavour and told him that Touya was there and he was furious. When he got home, Fuyumi and Natsuo were sitting together on the couch, holding each other tightly as screams sounded from the training room.
"I ran up there and kicked open the door. Shouto was on the floor, screaming in pain. His arms and legs were bent in weird angles and his skin was burnt in many places. I have never been so angry in my life. I don't remember what I said or did, but I do remember that we ended up outside. I remember that we were fighting and I was losing. He was a lot stronger and he had the advantage of being fire-resistant. I remember thinking that he was going to kill me, that there was no way I would make it out alive, so I let go completely. I thought that if I died, then I would make sure that he died with me because while he's fire-resistant, that resistance only goes so far and my flames can go really hot. After that, there is only pain."
"Oh my god," Someone whispered.
He had been looking away as he told his story. When he finally looked back, he was met with horrified faces. Many of the kids were holding onto each other, some were crying.
"I will make sure that Endeavour goes down if it is the last thing I do," Eraserhead vowed, looking him straight in the eyes.
"I'll help," Greenie said. "I have two full notebooks of research on him in my room - coded, of course. Todoroki also sent me some pictures of injuries from when he's been home that I've saved in a safe location." Mirko cleared her throat.
"This answers a lot of questions, but I'm still wondering how you know Hawks?" She took a step closer to her friend.
"In the year before Endeavour fully gave up on turning me into a hero, he had the commission train me as a last-ditch effort. I would spend my entire days there and sometimes even the nights. Not only did he not have to waste his time training me, but he could also keep me away from Shouto." Touya explained.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Present Mic asked.
"You see, while I was there, I met a boy named Keigo. Keigo was a year younger than me and had been bought from his mother by the commission when he was six for them to turn into their perfect little hero robot." There were gasps, he heard one of the students whisper about how the commission would never do something like that. He sighed and shook his head. "Keigo was kind, if a bit awkward. While the commission had trained him both physically and mentally, his social skills didn't go further than how he was supposed to interact with his future fans and the press. I wasn't much better. I had barely ever met any other kid that wasn't one of my siblings. The two of us became great friends. Even after Endeavour took me out of the program, we kept in touch and we would meet up in secret right up until the day I died."
"I still don't see what this has to do with anything?" Mirko said, crossing her arms.
"Do you know what Hawks' real name is? Or rather; was. He actually doesn't have one anymore."
"What?"
"Tell them, Pretty Bird." Hawks frantically shook his head.
"I can't. I am not allowed to."
"Then I will. His real name used to be Takami Keigo. Recently, he was tasked with infiltrating the League of Villains. I just so happened to be the one recruiting that night. Apparently, a part of him did recognise me. A part that he has been taught to suppress." He smirked.
"I didn't think- we were kids! It shouldn't- I just thought that I hadn't found it yet, but then-. I don't understand!" He felt a little bad for him. He knew how much stress his bird aspects caused him, but Dabi was so desperate for the attention to be on someone other than himself. He'd had enough pitying looks for a lifetime.
"For life means for life, Pretty Bird." It came out softer than he'd intended.
"But we were kids! And we never really-" He cut himself off, blushing furiously.
"What the fuck are you two talking about?" Bakugou snapped.
"Hawks mate for life," Was all the explanation he gave.
"Wait," Present Mic said. "You two?"
"Yes." Touya nodded.
Shouto groaned softly and sluggishly moved to rub at his eyes, but Touya caught his wrists.
"Don't do that, Sho, it will make it worse." He ignored Shouto's whine and helped him sit up. When Shouto finally opened his eyes to look at him, they went wide.
"Tou-nii, what happened?" He asked, hesitantly reaching out to touch Touya's face.
"Nothing you should worry about, love." He smiled at him. "Are you hungry? It's been a while since you've eaten, hasn't it?" Shouto nodded.
"I think we have some leftover soba in the fridge, I could go get some," The gravity girl offered. Touya nodded and she got up to go get it. He couldn't help but notice the way that her hands were trembling as she walked.
"Where are we?" Souto wondered.
"Somewhere safe," Touya promised.