Dabi grunted, using a pair of knives to climb down the tower. Why was this so hard to do? The tower was almost as tall as the castle itself. It was short enough to be hidden well in the dense forest, no one could've seen it unless they were right in front of it. It was obviously made to be kept a secret, the scenery and it's shape made it perfect for that.

"You coming Mophead?" He asked, in a bored tone. Why was the other just staring down from the window? Was he afraid of heights or something? Dabi rolled his eyes, continuing to make his way down.

"It's time, Mon. We're going to see the lights. We're going outside the castle. I'm going outside for the first time in my life." He said, slightly panicked. Mon licked his cheek supportingly. He smiled at the corgi, who was sitting on the windowsill, eyes glowing with approval. Tomura pet his head, before taking a deep breath.

"Here I go." he muttered, putting his hair through a hook and letting it cascade down. He grabbed hold of it, swinging down the sides of the tower, passing by Dabi's shocked expression.

He stopped to a halt as he saw the grass below his feet. He'd never had any actual experience with grass, he just knew about it from books and pictures. What would it feel like? Should he go for it? Mon, who had climbed down the tower by now, rolled around in the grass to show him it was safe. Tomura hesitantly put a foot down. And then another one. It felt weird. Weird but nice.

"It's just how I imagined it." He murmured, smiling. The grass was tingling his feet and it felt amazing, The air was so clean from where he was, he loved it. He was outside of the tower. He was free. Tomura felt the wind against his skin, a gentle breeze he had never felt before. He giggled, running around, skipping, jumping, and just frolicking. Mon followed him.

Dabi gave a confused look his way. It was like he'd never been outside before, had he never been outside before? It made sense as to why he needed an escort. He rolled his eyes as Tomura and the corgi ran around laughing, or rather barking in Mon's sense.

"I can't believe I did this! I can't believe I did this. I can't believe I did this!" He shouted, twirling around. He had a sudden realization.

"Sensei would be furious." he stated.

"C'mon Mophead, we don't have all day." Dabi said, walking in the other direction. Tomura nodded, running after him.

He mumbled to himself the entire time they were walking.

"Sensei would hate me for this, he's think of me as an awful son, but he'll never know, right? Plus it'll just be one time, I'll go back to him after this." He muttered, trying his best not to think of it.

"What he doesn't know can't kill him! Sensei will just think I stayed in the tower this whole time!" He said, to a lotus he had picked up when they stopped by a lake. Dabi tapped his foot irritatedly, waiting for him to finish talking to a flower. Why the heck was he even talking to a flower? It was a freaking flower. He only didn't interrupt him because Mon was glaring daggers his way. Stupid dog.

"No, this would kill him! Sensei's looked after me for forever, he'd think I betrayed him." Tomura whispered, at the verge of tears. Mon nuzzled against him for support while Dabi groaned. They stopped by a cave for a small break, but break turned into breakdown. Truthfully Dabi was curious to who this 'Sensei' was. He seemed to care a lot about the mophead, to the point he was overprotective. Dabi was slightly jealous, his family never gave a shit about him. Except maybe his mother, but that was a long time ago. She probably thought he was dead.

"WAHOOO!" HE shouted, running through the grass, letting his colossal hair flow behind him. He couldn't run like this in the tower, it felt so nice. Mon ran with him, liking how lively the other seemed. Tomura was always so dull cooped up in one space, he had a completely different aura now. Dabi move his head away, trying not to get hit by the massive locks of hair. He failed at that.

"What's this?" Tomura asked, pointing to a plant.
"A freaking plant."
"But plants have names, right?"
"How am I supposed to know the name of a plant?"
"Well, you know more about the world don't you?"
"Not about some random plant." Dabi said, scoffing. Just then, Mon pushed him into it. Tomura resisted the urge to chuckle. Dabi groaned, getting out. They walked for a few minutes until he mumbled something.

"What?" Tomura asked.
"Poison Ivy. That was fricking poison ivy." He said, feeling his skin burn. Tomura muttered an apology and laughed at the same time.

"I am an awful son. I should go back, Sensei would disown me if he knew about this. I can't believe I'm deceiving him like this." he mumbled, after climbing a tree just to try it. How could he betray his Sensei's trust like this? He was the worst type of person to exist. Dabi raised an eyebrow at that. So Sensei was this guy's father figure. That explained a bit.

"Get down from that tree, now. We have to keep going." he called back, insensitively. Why should he care if the other was feeling sad? Mon growled at him. Oh, that's why.

"I AM NEVER GOING BACK!" He yelled, cartwheeling and getting rolled up in his hair. Why would he go back? This was so much fun! Maybe he could convince Sensei to move out of the tower with him and live somewhere outside, or to let him come with him when he left. He couldn't leave this wonderful place.

"I am a despicable creature." Tomua sobbed, into a grass field. Dabi sat by, officially done with the mood swings. He just needed to make up his mind already! Did he want or not want to go? Personally, Dabi would prefer the latter, but he at least needed an answer.

"BEST DAY EVER!" Tomura shouted, laughing and swinging around a tree with his hair. Dabi scoffed. This was annoying. Why did he have to babysit this kid again? Oh right, for the satchel. That freaking satchel. He couldn't give in now, as much as he wanted to. He was desperate for money, he doubted he could survive another week without that crown. He needed it, and he was going to get it back.

Tomura sobbed, tears cascading down his face. He hated anyone seeing him cry, anyone except Mon, but Mon was asleep right now. He had betrayed Sensei.

Dabi walked over to him, clearing his throat. Maybe, he could get his satchel back, without the detour. It would save Tomura all the conflict as well. From his point of view, it was a win win.

"Go away." Tomura mumbled, resisting the urge to flip him off. Dabi sighed.

"I will if you want me to, I just noticed that you're a little at war with yourself. I only know a few bits, overprotective father figure, forbidden road trip, anyways this is some serious shit." He said, in his best convincing voice. It was oversympathetic and obvious, but Tomura was too down in the dumps to notice.

"Obviously it's serious." he mumbled, still teary eyed.

"Anyways, you shouldn't worry. Running away and being rebellious, it's a part of life! It's good! Even healthy." He said, in a very encouraging tone. Mon, who had just woken up, was giving him the stink eye, as if he knew exactly what he was doing.

He probably did.

"Really?" Tomura mumbled, wiping his tears and lifting his head up slightly. Maybe running away wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"Of course! I mean sure, he doesn't deserve it and I know it'd break his heart and crush his soul, but you gotta do what you gotta do." He said, casually. Tomura bit his lip.

"Break his heart?" He questioned, with worried eyes.

"In two." Dabi replied, trying not to grin.

"Crush his soul?"

"Like a berry." He demonstrated by literally crushing a berry with two of his fingers. Tomura looked back with a horrified expression.

"You're right, it would crush him. He'd be completely heartbroken." He stated. Dabi nodded sympathetically.

"I know, I know." He comforted. He helped him up gently, ignoring Mon's threatening growl. Then, he heaved a sigh.

"I can't believe I'm doing this, but I'm letting you out of the deal." He said, dramatically.

"What?" Tomura hissed.

"Yep. But don't thank me. Let's just get you home." He said as he smiling fakely.

"Here's your pan, here's your dog," Dabi continued, giving him the frying pan and pointing at Mon who barked angrily.

"I get back my satchel, you get back a father-son relationship based on mutual trust, and we part ways as unlikely friends." Tomura and Mon exchanged looks. By this point, Tomura seemed to have an idea of what the other man was trying to do, but still tried to step in before Mon pounced on him.

"No! I am going to see the lanterns!" He shouted. He didn't come all this way just to go back before getting what he came for. He was far too stubborn for that.

"Oh c'mon! What is it going to take to get my satchel back?" Dabi hissed angrily. He just wanted to sell the crown, and be done with this. He regretted going to that tower, it was a good hiding spot but it landed him in more trouble than he was before.

Tomura narrowed his eyes, holding up the frying pan to Dabi's neck, like it was a knife.

"I will use this." He threatened, as Dabi raised his hands in defense. Suddenly, a bush rattled from next to them. Tomura jumped in startlement. He latched onto Dabi , shaking him.

"Is it ruffians? Thugs? Have they come for me?" He asked, in shock. He wasn't exactly scared, he could probably defend himself with the frying pan, but then again, he didn't know what was in that bush or what types of creatures lived out here.

Dabi, on the other hand, was trying not to fall over. Tomura was pretty light, but he was shaking vigorously. He was glad Mon was too busy growling at the bush to get mad at him for being too close to Tomura, though.

A small rabbit bounced out, looking up at them with curious eyes. Tomura stared back in disbelief.

"Stay calm. It can probably smell fear." Dabi declared, sarcastically. The blunette chuckled getting off of him, as Mon scared the rabbit away.

"It could've actually been something dangerous, I was just being prepared." He defended.

"Whatever, Mophead. We should probably avoid ruffians and thugs, though." He said, rolling his eyes. Tomura nodded.

"Yeah, that'd probably be best." He agreed, nervously.

Dabi's eyes lit up, and so did a metaphorical lightbulb above his head. If he wanted to get the crown back without going to the kingdom, he was going to have to make Tomura scared of the world, so scared he wouldn't want to continue the journey. Okay, maybe scaring him would be a bit too much, but at least making him uncomfortable. Either way, he had to make him not want to stay out of his tower any longer.

And he knew just the place to do that.

"Hey, I know a great place for lunch!" He said, overenthusiastically. Tomura raised an eyebrow.

"Where?" He asked, still wary after what Dabi had tried to pull a few minutes ago.

"You'll know it when you smell it!" he called, gesturing for the shorter male to follow him as he ran off. Mon and Tomura exchanged glances before running after him.

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Noumu prowled around, sniffing the ground and the air for Dabi's scent. It had been hours since he last saw him, but the horse was sure he'd be found soon. He had to find him, for the guards. He didn't want to fail them. They'd done so much for him, he wanted to be useful.

He came across a tree with a face on it.It looked rather familiar, but he couldn't point out who it was. He used his crooked hoof to cover up a bit of the scars. If the scars were just a bit neater and actually had staples in them ...it was him. He tore the paper from the tree, shredding it with his teeth. Suddenly, he heard footsteps. It could be Dabi!

Noumu followed the noise, sniffing the ground. He could smell the scent of a man coming from somewhere. He hid carefully behind a rock and a bush, listening as the footsteps grew louder. When he felt them nearby he pounced out of the bush.

All For One jumped slightly back in shock. He was even more shocked to see Noumu standing in front of him. Noumu was an old creation of his, one he had abandoned. The creature was supposed to follow his every command, but something messed up along the way and it became sentient. All For One had to abandon the project, knowing he couldn't tame the creature while keeping it away from Tomura.

He had heard rumors that Noumu became a palace horse, he guessed they were right. The creature tilted its head and blew a raspberry, clearly disappointed. As if he expected someone else. Noumu didn't recognize him, good. It would cause more trouble than he'd like if he did.

Wait, where was the creature's rider? All palace horses had one. And why was it here, in this dense forest...Tomura. The horse wasn't too far away from where he was keeping Tomura. All For One's eyes widened as he ran in the other direction, leaving behind a very confused Noumu.

He ran as fast as he could to reach the tower. Tomura had to still be there. If he lost him, he'd die within a few days! His youth would fade until he was nothing but decay. He was only able to survive those five years when Tomura was still in the castle by coming to meet him each day. Each day until he took him away.

"Tomura! Let down your hair!" He shouted, in a panicked voice. Silence.

"Tomura!" More silence. All For One's panic increased as he tore off a chunk of a bush, leading to an area covered in stones. He tore the stones away, one by one, until he finally broke into the tower, by tearing out a tile.

"Tomura! Tomura Shigaraki!" He called, desperately.

No answer.

He ran all over the dark tower, but Tomura wasn't there. He hoped the boy was just asleep or too busy to hear him, but that didn't seem like the case.

As he ripped away the curtains, he noticed that the windows were closed tight. Tomura never closed the windows...

Unless, he was going to be upstairs for a long time.

Tomura had left. How had he been so foolish? Of course he'd leave, he was blabbering about those lights for so long, and he was as stubborn as they come. He should've known Tomura wouldn't give up.

The dog he got for him was nowhere to be seen as well. All For One always thought the dog would keep him company, and decrease his want to go outside. All For One knew how Tomura could communicate with the corgi, he assumed it was a good thing, and that it would keep him from being lonely. Oh how wrong he was. He regretted stealing him from his mother when he was a newborn pup. He had no doubt the dog influenced Tomura's decision to leave.

The light from outside made something glint near the staircase. All For One walked closer to it, unsure of what it might be.

He lifted up the roof of a stair, noticing the sparkle from underneath it. It was a crown. A beautiful, sparkling crown. But not just any beautiful crown.

Prince Tenko's crown.

He dropped it on the floor. Had the palace guards finally found him? Did they take him to the castle?

He looked at the stairs again. There was a brown leather bag. He checked the contents only to find a piece of paper, a wanted poster.

A wanted poster for Dabi.

Dabi was the name of a wanted thief, All For One had heard quite a bit about him from the shadier areas in town. The wanted poster, the bag, the crown, it all made sense.

Dabi had taken Tomura.

He wasn't sure if it was willingly or not, but it didn't matter to him. The fact that Tomura was gone didn't change. But he was going to find him and bring him back.

He would make sure Tomura never stepped out of his sight ever again.

He did whatever it took to be immortal. He snuck into the palace for five years straight, killed the Former Queen, and kidnapped the prince. That effort wouldn't go to waste.

The man gritted his teeth, taking a knife from a drawer.

All For One would get the boy back, no matter what it took.

Even if things had to get a little bloody.

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And that concludes this chapter! Special shout out to @Biscuit_Chan for all of their support!