CHAPTER WARNINGS: Child abuse and homelessness.

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One of the first things Touya recalled from his new life as Dabi was a boy.

He didn't see the boy often, because he'd been living in alleyways behind dumpsters, but he did remember that he associated the boy strongly with the color red.

He couldn't recall the boys face, couldn't recall his voice, or name, but he remembered the color red, and a pair of striking gold eyes lined in black.

It was the one time where the color red didn't make him feel so scared.

Now, however, as he stood in the back alleys of Shinjuku with a certain winged Hero across from him, the color red only made him feel irritated.

Dabi stared the Hero down, leaning against the wall behind him to appear nonchalant, but his eyes tracked the man's every move.

"You really don't know what happened to the Todoroki kid? You, who has such a massive hate for Endeavor, doesn't know what happened to the most important thing in the world to him that you could use as blackmail? I find that extremely hard to believe."

Dabi shrugged, his hands in his pockets.

"doesn't matter if you believe me or not. I don't keep watch of his spawn, only him. Besides, have I ever lied to you?"

Hawks stared at him with an incredulous look.

"Yes, multiple times, especially about the Nomu in Hosu."

Dabi rolled his eyes.

"And I've apologized. You Hero's are all so dramatic."

Hawks answered him with an irritated huff.

"And all those apologies were half assed and fake. Tell me where the kid is, Dabi. I'll take him back to his dad, and I'll give you the reward money that Endeavor is giving to anyone who finds him. I just want him safe."

Dabi's eyes instantly darkened, their mocking look burned away.

"If you so much as touch a hair on his head I'll kill you."

Hawks rose a brow.

"So you do have him?"

Dabi snarled.

"Yeah, and I won't let you touch him or bring him back to that shit stain. The kid is as safe as he can be, as long as he's away from him."

Hawks furrowed his eyebrows.

"what do you mean?"

Dabi knew that he had already revealed too much, but he was too heated to care right now. It didn't matter, anyway. If this overgrown chicken even tried to go near his little brother, he'd fry him before he could alert anyone.

No matter how much this Hero claimed he genuinely wanted to join the League, Dabi would never trust him, especially not around Shoto.

Dabi pushed himself off the wall, backing the winged man into the opposite side of the alley further.

"It's none of your concern what I mean, Hero. Now, why don't you go back to your coop like a good bird and leave the real Villains to their business, hm?"

Hawks stared him down with a glare, his chest and wings puffing up ever so slightly despite the slight height difference between the two men.

"I can't stand idly by when I know you're in the possession of a missing child. If there's something really going on behind the scenes with Endeavor, the Hero's can handle it."

Dabi reached out and gripped Hawks by the furred collar of his jacket, pressing him into the wall so tight that the shorter man winced when his wings were crushed by his back.

Dabi felt the palm of his hands heating up, smoke coming up from his fair skin and singing the fur of the Hero's jacket still in his grip.

"I'll say it again. If you go anywhere near him, if you contact anyone, I'll kill you. The best thing for him is to not get anyone involved, and if you take that away from him, your body will burn in the deepest fucking ditch I can find."

Hawks went quiet -for once- then nodded.

"Fine, I'll keep my mouth shut, but I'll be stopping by frequently to make sure the kid is okay. Say all you want, I don't trust you. This is my only negotiation. Deal?"

Dabi hesitated, considering his options.

On one hand, having Hawks around Shoto constantly could prove to be troublesome, and a lot more annoying, and on the other hand, Dabi didn't trust Hawks, never would he in a million years, but if checking on Shoto kept the overgrown bird from telling the Hero's, was Dabi willing to take the risk?

Dabi stared down the man opposite of him, scowling.

"Fine, fuck it. But if I find out that you've uttered a single word about him to any Hero, or worse, Endeavor, then you won't have to worry about the kid anymore, 'cause then you'll be worrying about me and all the ways I could kill you."

Hawks held up his hands in surrender.

"alright, alright, message received, you can kill me seventy different ways and hide the body each time, I get it."

Dabi'a scowl deepened at the man.

All of a sudden, Hawks clapped his hands together and prepared his wings for flight.

"Well, it was real great seeing you, Dabi, but I do have Hero work to attend to, as unfortunate as that may seem. I do enjoy our conversations, and all the life threatening, but I really should get going. Anyway, try not to get into too much trouble, I'd hate for you to wind up in jail."

The man took off into the air, hovering a few feet above Dabi's head, looking down at him.

"Anyway, see you later! Byeee!"

And with that, the annoying bird took off.

Dabi scowled, looking down at his hands where faint burns were starting to form along his palms.

He dug into his pockets, pulling out a small container of burn cream that was starting to go empty and opened it, scooping a small amount with his fingers and spreading it along the burns.

Unfortunately, the burn cream only worked on the smallest of wounds, and only for the first degree.

Sighing, Dabi put the burn cream back into his pocket and made his way out of the alley and into the dead of night.

~~~

Shoto sat on the worm and torn couch in the League's hideout, watching as Toga and Bubaigawara threw down old looking cards.

"Gah, Jin! That's the third time you've gotten a Go Fish! You have to be cheating at this point!"

Bubaigawara sat across from the girl with his mask off, an unlit cigarette hanging loosely from his teeth.

"Maybe I'm just that good. Or maybe you just suck. Shut the hell up!"

Toga seemed unbothered by the man arguing with himself and continued to pout.

"it's not fair."

Shoto took his attention away from the pair on the floor and turned his head, looking out of the dusty and cracked window and into the night sky, where a full moon greeted him.

Blinking sluggishly, he pulled his legs up onto the couch and rested his chin on his knee.

"Hey, Shoto."

Shoto looked towards the one who spoke, which was Toga.

"Hm?" He hummed.

"How do you plan to kill your dad, anyway? Is there some, like, elaborate plan you have, or...?"

Shoto shook his head.

"Not a clue. I haven't gotten there, yet. But, the sooner the better."

"Oh." Toga said. "Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out!"

Shoto stayed silent after that, staring out of the dirty window at the moon until the sound of the door of the room opening caught his attention.

He looked up, catching sight of his brother walking in.

"Dabi." Shigaraki spoke. "How did it go?"

Touya seemed to hesitate for a moment before responding.

"He found out about Shoto. I don't know how, but he did."

Shoto froze in his seat. He? Who was he?! Was it Endeavor?!

Touya, seemingly noticing his brothers silent panic, spoke to ease his thoughts.

"it's not Endeavor, don't worry. It's someone we were dealing with prior, a 'new recruit' you could say, although I don't really believe that's what he wants, no matter how good he is at lying."

Shoto took a deep breath before staring at his brother for context.

"The number 2 Hero, Hawks, has been trying to join up with us for a few months now. He says he genuinely wants to join, but I don't believe him. He found out that we have you, and he said that he won't tell, I made sure if that, but he wants to do frequent check in's to make sure you're safe."

Shoto hesitates for a moment before nodding, curling back into his spot on the couch.

"So?" He heard Shigaraki question. "What does this mean?"

Touya sighed irritably. "It means that you're gonna have to get used to an overgrown, annoying chicken hanging around."

The room grew quieter once again with idle chatter as Touya walked over to Shoto and sat next to him.

"whatever happens, I'm not letting you get hurt." He said quietly, placing a hand on Shoto's shoulder. "He's not going to find you, I swear. If he does, I'll kill him."

Shoto was so incredibly tired. Not just physically, but mentally as well. Despite his happiness that his brother is alive and in his life, the mental strain these past few days have put on his mind cause him to slump to the side and rest his head against his brothers shoulder, his eyes feeling heavy.

He feels like a child when, in an exhausted, quiet voice, he mutters "promise?"

The very faint feeling of a hand on his head is what slips him into sleep, along with an equally quiet voice responding.

"I promise."

I promise I still like this fic guys T^T writers block has continued to kick my ass.