CHAPTER WARNINGS: child abuse, panic attacks, running away, and brief mentions of disassociation.

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The next time Shoto sees his father is the Thursday before the project is due. He hadn't even written down one sentence. And Endeavor was not pleased.

Not that Shoto was expecting him to be happy about it when he had asked how the project was going -suddenly taking an interest in his personal life for whatever reason.- but he wasn't expecting what was happening now, in the middle of their home dojo.

"Ever since the Provisional Exam your grades have been failing, Shoto. Not only that, but you're skipping training with your class, staying up late, lounging around. I'm thin on patience, you need to get your act together if you ever want to achieve at surpassing me."

Shoto narrowed his eyes at the man, scowling.

"What's my grades to you? You're barley around to care. Why is it your problem?"

Endeavor bristled in slowly churning anger.

"It becomes my problem when your teachers are telling me how much you're falling asleep in class, how you don't want to participate anymore. If Eraser hadn't allowed me to call you in today, you'd surely be failing."

Shoto huffed, avoiding his father's gaze.

"Yeah, well, I frankly could give less of a shit what you think." He mumbled.

All too suddenly, his right arm was in a bruising grip, and he was being tugged forward harshly by the larger man.

"I thought we were passed this rebellion, Shoto. You of all should know I don't bode well with snark."

Shoto tried to free his arm from the man's hold, but it only served in his arm being held tighter.

"Let me go." Shoto gritted out.

"Not until you've learned your lesson."

Just as fast as he could blink, a wave of fire was being hurled towards the right side of his body and he was being tossed to the ground, harshly.

Shoto barley had any time to get up and dodge before more flames came at him.

He had almost managed a complete ice wall, but the fire melted it just as it went up.

Shoto tried to dodge Endeavors attacks, but it proved useless as he felt a searing, burning pain right where the bruise was forming on his arm.

Shoto cried out, collapsing against the wall behind him and ducking just as his so called father sent a blast of flames above his head.

Loosing his footing because of how fast he had ducked, Shoto fell to the ground and fought off the burning sting of tears behind his eyes as Endeavor leered over him.

All of a sudden, he was five years old again and he was kneeling in his own vomit, body overworked with tears running down his face as his father berated him.

"Pathetic." Endeavor sneered. "You know better than this, Shoto. I've taught you better."

In a flash, the man had him by the hair and was lugging him back on his feet as Shoto started to cry against his will.

"Clearly those classmates of yours have done you no good. They've turned you soft, especially that Midoriya boy. You used to be able to take this"

Endeavor let go of his hair, letting him fall back to the ground, and turning to leave the burning Dojo without so much as another word.

Shoto backed himself into the farthest corner he could as he slowly used his ice to extinguish the flames, the cold chill taking over him.

He pulled his knees up, hiding his face in them, and began crying.

He wanted this to be over, he wanted all of it to be over.

Shoto felt like he was dying as his chest tightened, breathing coming out short and shallow as he gripped at his hair, tugging at the strands and pulling a few out in the process.

'It seems old habits die hard, even if you're supposedly trying to change.' Shoto thought bitterly as a manic grin came to his face.

He slammed his head up and into the tatami padded wall, laughter bubbling in his chest while large tears fell down his cheeks.

He gasped for breath as he continued to laugh, his chest constricting.

He had to get out of here, he had to leave.

Shoto fought for balance as he got up off the floor, stumbling and bumping into the wall, which caused a flare of pain to shoot up his right arm from where the burn was.

Shoto looked down at the forming hand shaped bruise on his forearm through blurred tears.

He couldn't go back to class, even if he was allowed absence today. Not like this.

Staggering to the front of the room and grabbing his jacket and bag, he walked slowly out of the room.

He avoided the main rooms the best he could. Fuyumi was at work, but he didn't want Endeavor seeing him.

He got to the front door and quietly opened it, going out into the cold weather and instantly using his fire to heat himself up.

He wouldn't go back to the dorms immediately, he'd wait just a bit, maybe walk around the city for awhile.

Leaving the estate and making his way down the sidewalk, Shoto thought back to the offer made to him a few days ago.

Would it be so wrong for him to want to accept?

Something cracked a little bit more inside Shoto's subconscious.

He didn't just want his father to hurt, he wanted him...

No.

Yes?

Did he want his father dead?

It'd surely make his life a hell of a lot easier.

More importantly, though, did he want to join the League of Villains? If he did, he'd be betraying his friends, his siblings, everyone he cared about.

But if joining made it possible to make his father pay for all the pain he'd caused, was it worth it?

~~~

When Shoto finally decided to head back to the dorms, he walked into the empty building quietly and made his way to the elevator, stepping inside and making his way up to his floor.

Once the elevator opened, he sped walked down the hallway and to his door, sliding it open, and immediately going to his closet, throwing it open and grabbing all of the clothes he could.

He wouldn't be coming back here any time soon.

He also grabbed a duffel bag he kept in the back, tossing it on the floor and shoving all of his clothes inside.

When that was done, he went over to his backpack that he had dropped on the ground in his haste and opened it, digging through it until he found the picture, putting it in the duffel bag as well.

He didn't want to take his phone, too many risks of someone finding him, so he turned it off completely and tossed it on the tatami mat.

He took off his coat next, exchanging it for a dark hoodie he barley wore, and pulled the hood over his surely recognizable hair.

With all his essentials, he left the room, leaving the door open, and made his decent back to the common room.

As swiftly as he came, he left and didn't look back.

Once Shoto was in the city again, he made his way through alleys, avoiding the occasional homeless drunk or drug deal, before he stopped abruptly.

Dabi had never told him how to get in contact if he wanted to join...

Dammit.

As he considered his options, a noise just bit ahead of him caught his attention.

"Well, what do we have here?! A UA brat! Aww, you're so adorable!"

Twice.

What a coincidence.

Shoto stood still as the man approached him, masked and intimidating.

"Shigaraki is gonna love having the Number 1 Hero's son as a gift. He's gonna hate you!"

And all too suddenly, there was something being slammed into the side of his head, and then everything was dark.

~~~

It was silent in the dingy, abandoned apartment that contained the entirety of the League.

After a moment of unbearable silence, Shigaraki, who sat on a crate opposite to everyone, spoke.

"We need to plan our next move. With All Might out of the picture as a Hero, and everyone putting their faith in Endeavor, society is going back to being as trusting and submissive as it was before. We need a way to stop this."

Dabi stood in the corner away from them all, staring at the ground.

Suddenly, a loud bang came from behind the apartments door, and a loud voice rang out.

"Hey, Shigaraki! I got you a little something!"

Twice was back from whatever the hell he'd been doing.

The door opened and Twice stepped in, tossing a duffel bag to the floor that Dabi was almost certain didn't belong to him.

Dabi trailed his eyes up to the body Twice had drapped over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and froze.

'Shoto...'

Everyone stared at the man in shock.

"Jin, we can't just kidnap UA kids anymore! Remember what happened last time?!" Toga exclaimed.

Twice dropped Shoto down onto the torn couch, where Dabi could now see that the kid was bleeding from his hairline.

"What did you do to him?" He questioned, trying to keep his voice as disinterested as possible despite the seething anger boiling in his gut.

"The kid looked like he was running away from home! Did him a favor and gave him an early place to stay!"

Twice went and grabbed the duffel bag off the ground.

"Quick, let's go through the kids stuff before he wakes up!"

The man unzipped the bag and began tossing stuff out.

"Clothes, clothes, more clothes, god this kid is boring, some random photo-"

He tossed a framed picture on the ground that landed near Dabi's feet, and when he looked down, he saw his own eyes -albiet younger- staring up at him.

He froze, taking in a breath, before bending down and grabbing the frame.

Why did Shoto have his picture?

Toga came up beside him and looked over his shoulder.

"Must be a family member or something. Doesn't matter! Spinner, grab a rope so we can tie him up!"

Dabi didn't say anything as the lizard man went to find a rope while Toga went about removing Shoto's hoodie.

"What are you doing?" Shigaraki questioned.

"Taking this off so the rope will be tighter. Jackets and stuff cause bulk, and make an easier escape, so-"

Toga paused in her task when she got Shoto's right arm out of he sleeve.

"Holy shit, he's burned all over."

"What?" Dabi asked, coming up beside her.

"Yeah, see? He's got all these burns on his right side, and his forearm is covered in a bruise that kind of looks like a hand."

Dabi clenched his teeth and seethed.

Spinner came back with a rope and handed it to Toga, who tied it cautiously around Shoto's wrists, avoiding the bruise.

The burns and bruise were recent, hours recent at best, and they looked like they were still forming under his shirt.

The smaller girl propped the teen against the arm of the couch, scooting back to sit on the other side with a worried look on her face.

Even Shigaraki looked somewhat sympathetic.

"What do you think happened?" The blonde questioned. Dabi had never seen her look so upset.

"His dad." Dabi said simply. "He's wasn't exactly the nicest to fans when he was Number 2. What makes you think he's nice to his kids?"

The scarred man clutched at his biceps from where he had his arms crossed.

"And judging by the fact that the burns and bruise are only on his ice side, I'd say his old man got pissed off and took it out on his least favorite part of his kid."

"I was gonna say that we use the kid as leverage. Make it a hostage situation and blackmail Endeavor in exchange for his son, but now I'm not so sure I want to return him." Shigaraki mumbled.

"Didn't know you were so caring of children, Shiggy." Toga said, though the tease didn't have her usual mock.

Everyone in the room was silent as they all waited for Shoto to wake up, which took about half an hour.

The kids two toned eyes slowly blinked open, unfocused and dim and in the low light of the apartment building.

Slowly, his vision seemed to work itself out and he shuffled, immediately freezing once he seemed to notice the ropes.

The younger looked up and caught everyone's eye.

"Oh." He mumbled. "this is convenient. I was looking for you all."

All of the villains in the room stared in shock at the sheer audacity of this child, as if him saying that wasn't completely insane.

"You... Were looking for us?" Toga questioned cautiously.

Shoto nodded.

"Yes. I want to join the League."

What?!

"You're... Joking, right? You went seeking out a dangerous group of murderers because you want to join?" Shigaraki stared at Shoto incredulously.

Shoto shrugged.

"I was given an offer, I'm accepting said offer."

Shigaraki looked at him in confusion.

"Offered by who?"

Slowly, Shoto turned his head to look at Dabi.

A chorus of "oh, c'mon!" erupted through the small room.

Dabi threw his hands up in exasperation.

"I felt bad for the kid, sue me."

"We can't sue you, we're all homeless!" Toga exclaimed, still seated on the couch.

Shoto looked slightly amused at their banter, despite his tired appearance.

"Moving on." Shigaraki grumbled out. "Why do you want to join the League? You're the son of a Hero. What could have society kept from you that makes you feel so miserable?"

Shoto stared their leader down with an unsettling stare, barley blinking.

"My father has abused me and my family for years and I want him dead."

The room was silent.

"Was he the one who gave you that bruise?" Toga asked, uncharacteristically quiet.

"Yes. And the burns. I was falling asleep in class, failing, skipping training. He got angry, I mouthed off, he backed me into a corner with his fire and then left me alone while I had a panic attack."

It was silent again.

"Well, you don't need to worry about killing your father, I'll do it for you." Dabi heard Spinner mutter.

Wasn't that the truth.

"So, you're just going to betray your classmates, your friends, so you can watch your father die?" Shigaraki questioned, still suspicious.

A dark look came onto Shoto's face, one that didn't suit him.

"Yes. I don't want to hurt them, but they'll never understand. They all look up to him, they're blinded. They wouldn't support this. Which is why I have to do it. He deserves to die by my hand after what he's done to me, my mother, my siblings. He's the reason for my brothers death, and I'll make him pay for it."

Dabi gripped the picture frame in his hands ever so slightly, eyeing Shoto.

'Your brother is alot closer than you think...'

Suddenly, Shoto's eyes snapped to his, and for a moment Dabi thought that Shoto had heard his thoughts, but then the kids gaze was zeroed in on the picture.

"Give that back."

Wordlessly, Dabi handed it back.

Shoto clutched the picture tightly, holding it to his chest.

"It's worth it, isn't it? To betray my friends if it means he'll be gone?" Shoto asked, voice uncharacteristically small.

"I think so." Toga said. "But that's coming from a murderer who is in a League filled with other murderers."

Shoto gave her a 'yeah, you're right.' shrug.

"Alright, kid." Shigaraki said, standing up from his crate.

"You're in. We'll help you kill your dad."

Has it been obvious that this isn't an Endeavor friendly fic?