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Chapter Text

There's a school for heroes and a school system for villains. They're all competitive in this world, welcome to fight each other and grow their skills but with certain rules laid out. The villains and heroes can only spar or train in certain designated areas across the country. Anyone who finds themselves inside that area is fair game for any type of ambush. However, killing and murder was against the rules. Villains cannot get carried away or harm innocent bystanders.

Additionally, the villains and heroes also had their own sides of town, they had their own bars, restaurants, places, parks, etc.

Everyone picks which route they want to go in high school and from there they can pursue secondary training, education or internships.

Depiction of what Dabi's burns look like in this fic:

Chapter Text

Blue flames. Scorching, searing, suffocating, bright blue flames covered his entire vision. He couldn't see anything else, they were surrounding him all around. His tiny pale hands reached out in front, they were on fire… he was burning…where was everyone?

His gaze shifted higher and saw a blur of a tall broad figure with red hair, but he couldn't recognize any other features. 'Who is that…? Father…? Save me…'

"Dabi!" A man's voice awoke him from his recurring childhood nightmare. Dabi jerked awake and sat up. "Are you okay? You were thrashing about?"

"Uh, yea, I'm all good. Just an…unwelcomed dream." The ravenette underplayed with an annoyed frown. Why that memory again? It didn't happen as frequently as before but it still visited him once in a while.

"Are you sure? You have classes tomorrow, don't you? Make sure you don't get sick." He looked at his foster father before him, sitting beside the bed. The man had a narrow fragile physique, short beige hair and a warm smile. He adopted Dabi at the same age of the incident, at 4 years old, or for as long as he can remember. His foster father, Hiro, was neither a villain nor a hero and didn't possess any quirks either.

'Dabi' was the name given to him by his foster father and that was the only name he went by. Hiro told him his flames were so hot that they would cremate everything he pointed them towards, hence giving him that name.

"Yea, trust me, I'm fine. Nothing out of the ordinary. Stop worrying so much. Anyways, I'm gonna get up. I gotta head back soon." Dabi climbed out of bed.

Dabi chose the villain route because he could care less about helping people, he just wanted to blow off some steam and the mundane life just wasn't for him. He wanted to be free to do whatever he wanted. He was going to quit after high school but during so he developed the urge and interest to learn how to control his powers without burning his skin so much. His body constitution was the opposite of that of his quirk—which was already quite rare—where his own quirk was causing him self damage. He was lucky the most damage done was sparse burns on the left side of his cheek/jaw, under his eyes, left ear, neck, and on his arms. High school didn't provide enough training and so his father urged him to go to college for a deeper level of understanding of his powers. Needless to say, he obliged. Also, not like he had anything else to do. Life was boring as is.

"Alright old man, I'm out!" Dabi called out as he pulled on his shoes and reached for the front door.

"Okay! Are you coming over next weekend?" His foster father inquired from the other room.

"Mh…I'll see, depends on my mood." Dabi answered back. He shut the door and began casually walking out, hands stuffed in his pockets. He was in his second year of college and old enough to have his own apartment, so he moved out right away. Nothing against his loving very normal father, but he liked his own space.

Shoto was in his first year at U.A. high school, and lived with his family; one elder brother and sister and father, who was the number two hero in their society. His mother was in a mental hospital after she nearly burned him when he was a child. He still wears that scar over his left eye today.

"Hey Todoroki-kun! Over here!" One of his new classmates and new friend, Midoriya called out.

"Why're ya so slow?!" Bakugo also exclaimed from the side.

"What's the rush…" Shoto stifled a sigh. It was too early in the day to be so energetic, he thought. Then again, they had an annual Sports Festival tournament coming up so maybe he should join the hype too.

The sports festival was in full swing and U.A. high wasn't the only one taking part. U.A. University also had some participants. Dabi just happened to be one of them. Unfortunately, it was a requirement for his class.

The first stage of the tournament was to narrow down the candidates to be admitted into the tournament. The students were to collect 50 hidden marbles that were spread across the city grounds, these students would automatically be entered. The rest would be disqualified.

Shoto was with his classmates in the forest, collecting the marbles until he saw blazing blue flames for the first time. It instantly caught his eyes and halted him in his steps. 'Blue flames… I've never seen such a color before…they're enchanting…' the teen awed. They were unique. Even at that distance, he could feel the heat. From afar the teens watched as they disintegrated the row of trees to ash, revealing a few hidden marbles that glistened in the fire.

Dabi emerged from the smoke with a content smirk as he picked them off the gran with ease. The elder hadn't even acknowledged the teens yet. Shoto's first impression of the other was one of being laid back and possibly lazy but at the same time mysterious and arrogant.

'A hero? A villain?' the dual haired pondered but his thoughts were cut short.

"What the heck are you staring at?! Move outta the way! I'll beat him and get those marbles too!" Bakugo roughly brushed past him.

Shoto wanted to stop him but it was futile once the other had made up his mind. Shoto sighed, he wasn't interested in obtaining the marbles by fighting others. He felt more capable than that. However when the blond charged forward, the villain disappeared into thin air. "A clone?" Shoto mouthed, confused.

"Darn them! Cowards!"

Shoto only gave his classmate a deadpan look. Really. Either way, they soon into Tokoyami and Midoriya who were battling Compress. "Just great." Shoto mumbled as all of them joined in to take him down, mid-air.

Dabi had just stepped out of the canopy of the forest when he suddenly felt something descending from above. He cracked his neck up a fraction to find his villain-mate with a few student appendages raining down all together. 'Well fxck.' He wasn't in the mood for surprises. He troubled himself to take one step to the side and let the crowd slam into the ground.

"Brats." Dabi clicked his tongue. "This is why I was reluctant to take part in this."

Compress returned to his original state and three marbles flew in all directions. Deku and Tokoyami caught two of them, naturally Shoto leaped for the third one but a pale semi burnt hand beat him to it. Shoto failed to see him before with all the commotion but this was the first time he had looked directly into the turquoise colored eyes. The elder had mild reddish-purplish burns under his eyes, which only accentuated his emo look from afar, along with three nose piercings, a lip piercing and dimple piercings. The left side of his face was also scarred with burns that continued on to his neck and sparsely on his arms.

"How sad, Shoto Todoroki." Dabi read off the other's name tag as he closed his fist. With that, he smirked one last time and stuffed it in his pocket.

'Dammit! He was too late!' Shoto wanted to instinctively yell out. However, the strong survived in battle and he would just have to accept his losses.

"Hey! That was his!" Deku spoke up instead.

"Who says? Last I checked they didn't carry names on them." Dabi sneered.

"It's ok Midoriya-kun, I can always find another one, I don't need to be stealing from others." Shoto calmly answered back, loud and clear. The ravenette didn't care even if that was indirectly aimed at him. He continued to smirk and went his way.

"What?" Midoriya gaped.

"It's fine. The truth is I already have 49. I just need one more."

"I need two more." Deku confessed.

"I have 50. Looks like I'll see you two in the stadium hopefully, good luck." Tokoyami told before flying off as well. They nodded and split ways.

Dabi was walking back to the assembly area right outside the stadium before the contestants were allowed to enter in. The gates wouldn't open until all the players were in.

'Todoroki…' The name replayed in the ravenette's head. 'Why did that sound so familiar… wait, as in, the number two hero's son? Hah. That makes a lot of sense.' Now this should be interesting to watch. Dabi checked his counter, he had 55 marbles. He took that extra one just for fun that time.

The Hero tournament took place and, in the end, Shoto and Bakugo made it to the semi finals. Dabi was kicked out in the first round, he was never interested in taking part anyways so preferred it that way. He just went to the lounge area where the snacks were and watched the match through the TV screen.

'The kid has two quirks, why only utilize one?' Dabi wondered during the match was over. 'Was he against himself or something? But then again daddy is all fire, and he chooses to use all ice-heh, is this a rebellion.' He thought with amusement. The ravenette had wasted the whole day anyways, so what was another match, plus it was actually interesting to watch.

Then Shoto finally flared both sides of his quirk, and Dabi paused for a second. The kid actually look…pretty badass. If he were to say so himself. Yet, he lost. The elder teen had a gut feeling, the Todoroki kid could've won if he tried, but meh. It didn't concern him. Dabi dropped the cookie he was munching on and left the center.

School and everything resumed as normal after the festival, but now and then Shoto would find himself in one of the combat zones. Such as today. He found himself ambushed by four ninjas, but they were heroes as well. Even so that wasn't uncommon for heroes from different schools to challenge each other.

Dabi was passing by on his way to the café and noticed a commotion. The ground shook and he recognized the dual haired teen instantly. Shoto was more on the defense as it was four against one but when a cut scraped his arm, he snapped. 'Alright, they chose this.' In the midst of it all, he led them a bit further away into the industrial zone. There he aimed his ice at the water tank, but ducking behind one of the industrial cylinders to launch his fire and destroy the tank. The water instantly solidified to ice and trapped all four of them.

"That bastard—he's crazy!" The red ninja exclaimed while Shoto calmly walked out of the mist. as he tricked them and trapped them all in his ice barrier.

"It looks like the commission kept the force of the explosion down. Sorry, but I can't afford to fail anything I do." Shoto had high expectations burdening his shoulders, being the number two hero's son and all. Therefore, he couldn't lose these small battles. He already got enough shit from Endeavor after losing to Bakugo.

Shoto shook his head just recalling it all and about turned, only to be startled when he found a certain bystander just sitting casually with his chin on his hand staring at him when he turned. "Um…"

Dabi blinked, noticing their eyes had met. "Not bad~"

'Wait was he there the entire time and didn't offer to help?' Shoto inevitably thought. 'Well whatever.' The teen decided to walk away. He wasn't much of a socialite anyways.

'Hmph. Kid has some spunk to him.' The ravenette smirked. 'Then again I didn't expect less from Endeavor's son, but…he is a lot calmer and reserved than I imagined…' Dabi was really invested for a change. A gut feeling told him the teen was much more powerful than what he led out.

'What was that about?' Shoto replayed the elder's face who was staring at him transfixed. It's like he was studying him so deeply. 'He was weird.'

"Yo Dabi~!" Toga called out as soon as she saw the ravenette enter the campus.

"You? What the hell are you doing here?" Dabi scowled upon seeing. "Stop stalking me, you crazy stalker and go back to school." Toga was in high school but during one school trip visit to U.A. Uni, she got hooked to Dabi's negative aura at first sight.

"Who needs school?" She grinned, following him. "So? Can I have your blood?"

"No."

"Just a tiny bit? A small bit?" She pestered.

"No. Get lost."

She heaved a loud sigh. "Ughh, one of these days."

"Keep dreaming. Don't you have anyone else to pester, brat?"

"Well…there are two more people on my list… but unapproachable right now…"

"Good then go harass them."

"Meh, you're no fun~" Toga began to turn away, holding on to her bookbag straps.

'Finally.' Dabi rolled his eyes. 'How did he always attract the weirdos?'

Chapter Text

Shoto wasn't interested in people. However, there was a particular punk person that he couldn't escape from. For some reason known to the universe, ever since their interaction during the sports festival, they kept coincidentally running into each other.

Their training classes required some extracurricular hero activities and one of them was to spar heroes or villains in the combat zones. The dual haired was face to face with Dabi, and mentally prepared himself for an attack. Shoto vividly recalled the powerful blue flames and was ready to take no chances. At least, if nothing else, he would have a strong opponent to learn from. However, to his surprise Dabi simple acknowledged him and walked away.

"Huh? Hey." Shoto voiced.

"Yo?" Dabi looked over his shoulder a couple seconds later, almost missing the call out.

"Aren't you...going to fight?"

"Pssh, why would I do that? I have my priorities kid."

Shoto frowned at the 'kid' reference. He was sure, they weren't that apart in age. Regardless, he straightened his posture when it was obvious there would be no sparring. "You're weird." The teen accidentally blurted. Dabi merely chuckled at that as he casually walked away. 'Well so much for finishing his assignment…he'd have to find someone else to battle…But really, its like he's just going with the flow and doesn't care about anything.' Shoto thought.

That's when he heard his phone buzzing. It was Midoriya. "Hello?" The teen answered.

"Hey Todoroki-kun, where are you?"

"In the city, near the track fields. In one of the training zones."

"Ohhh okay! Were you able to find a worthy opponent?"

"…Worthy indeed…but didn't get a chance."

"hm? That's odd. Okay, no problem, you still have the end of the week to find someone." Deku smiled over the phone.

"Midoriya-kun."

"Yes?"

"It's Thursday."

"Oh. Haha I must've lost track of time. I guess you only have today and tomorrow then." Deku sheepishly laughed.

"Yeah. I'll figure it out. See you then."

"Good luck!"

The next day, during their allotted training time, Shoto ventured out into the city again, the outskirts this time around to find someone to have an unguided match with. Lucky for him he ran into a villain who was causing random destruction. Shoto immediately jumped in and tried to stop him. They fought endlessly and he could tell the villain wasn't very strong, but he was unpredictable and used cheap tricks just for the sake of harming him.

One thing led to another and they ended up on the roof. The villain slammed Shoto down causing a crack on the old building's roof. There was a bunch of old random tools and things on the roof, like fire wood, boxes of old TNT, some dynamites even wrapped together in a bundle with a rope, etc.

"Oh this should be fun to watch. Hey hero. Try saving this—" The villain took the dynamites and threw them towards the suburban houses.

'No!' Shoto instantly staggered up and reached for the edge of roof. The villain's laughs mocking in the background. However, the teens hands couldn't make it in time and he watched the bundle descend in the air. 'Dammit!'

The dual haired was ready to jump off after them but he noticed a pale hand grab the rope end sticking out. "What's this?" A familiar voice nonchalantly asked.

'It's him!' Shoto recognized.

"The hero student. Lend me some ice." Dabi ordered after he acknowledged the other. The ravenette threw the dynamite up into the air in between him on the ground and Shoto on the roof. The dual haired reacted fast and realized what Dabi's plan was, shooting ice towards the bundle and freezing it all. When the iced product fell back down, Dabi crushed it with one of the tools he was collecting.

"No freakin' fun. What kinda villain are ya? Whose side'r ya on?"

'So he is a villain…' Shoto mentally confirmed.

"Definitely not yours. You're too pathetic." The ravenette gave a smug smile as he held a hammer over his shoulder.

"Che. I'll get you back for that later." The villain grimaced, making a run for it.

"I don't think so!" Shoto once again, thought fast and used the same ice quirk to freeze the other in place. 'Well that's one victory.' He thought to himself. His thoughts were intruded by a rattling sound from underneath. 'Ah that's right.' He almost forgot about the villain.

"What are you doing here?" The question escaped the teen's mouth before he could catch it.

"Do I have to answer to you?" Dabi teased, silencing the younger, but he answered anyways. "Just collecting some tools, they got plenty of goods abandoned here."

"I see." Shoto leapt off the roof to somewhere close to where Dabi was. He stood speechless for a moment.

"What?" Dabi mouthed as he was gathering his bag full of metal.

"Oh, pardon me, I didn't mean to stare…but that was really unexpected."

"Pfft, what? The books say a hero and villain can't get along?" Dabi chuckled.

"I guess…they don't …explicitly." The teen realized. "Thank you." He quietly added which made Dabi pause and stare at him for a brief second. The kid was usually expressionless but this was different.

"Don't get used to it." The ravenette found his usual carefree tone again and waved a hand from behind as he walked away.

Shoto watched as the other left, realizing he still didn't know the other's name. 'The books don't say villains and heroes can't get along.' Now that's someone who thought outside of the box. Oddly, Shoto liked that. He was the complete opposite of him. He's been strictly following the rule book since day one. The teen would never admit it, but he was finding the villain…cool.

Later on, Shoto reported the villain he was fighting for attempting to endanger innocent lives.

The up and coming hero students were invited to the U.A. university as panelists for the villains to pose questions and learn from their perspective. Shoto , Deku, Tokoyami and Momo were part of the short panel. The professor asked questions while all the students answered one by one.

'Of course, he'd be part of this. What an honor student.' Dabi thought indifferently, chin on palm. He was sitting all the way in the back of the lecture room so naturally the teen didn't notice the other.

After class was dismissed, everyone began walking out. The hero students stepped out first. "Hey we're going to get some drinks, you coming Todoroki-kun?" Deku called out.

"Oh. Yeah. Ill be right behind you…" Shoto reassured. The others shrugged and obliged. 'This is U.A. university, he should be here right…?' Shoto sighed. 'No, what am I expecting? Even if I did run into him, what am I supposed to even say? It's not like we're friends. If anything we're enemies…I should just find the others and—'

The lecture hall door opened once more and momentarily distracted the younger, but it was just the person he was looking for. Dabi met eyes with the teen and smirked. "Yo. We meet again, huh."

"…A little too often." Shoto finished. They stood in awkward silence again, neither of them attempting to leave first, as if waiting for the other's initiative. "Um, since we've run into each other so many times anyways, my name is—"

"Shoto Todoroki? Yeah who doesn't know?" The ravenette scoffed.

"…And you are?"

"Just call me Dabi." The ravenette said normally for a change, no smirk or arrogance in his voice.

"Dabi?" The younger repeated.

"Yeah, like cremation." The elder pulled out a paper from one of his notebooks and disintegrated it into an ascending flame, dust particles snowing down. "But you already know that~"

'Dangerous.' A small voice warned in the back of Shoto's head.

"That aside, aren't you heroes always busy? Don't you have somewhere to be honor student?" Dabi insinuated.

"We had the rest of the day off from school because we participated in this. But I should be meeting up with my friends, they're probably waiting."

"Mh, later kid."

'Again with the kid reference.' Shoto frowned.

As Dabi walked away, Spinner and Twice walked up to him. "Yo you talkin' to one of those hero brats?" The lizard man taunted.

"Nope. Not me."

"Then what? You were just standing there?"

"What's it to you? I was just showing off." Dabi shut him up.

"More like scaring them." Spinner joked.

"Hell yah! No way! That's mean!" Twice chirped from behind.

"Hm. Something tells me that one's not scared at all." Dabi thought out loud. 'He looked more intrigued than anything. Haha, it was kinda cute, not gonna lie.' It almost seemed like the dual haired was interested in this new world, like a small child given a new complex toy for the first time. Normally villains or heroes didn't care about him, but it almost seemed like that kid was waiting for him. It could be wishful thinking, but he was standing alone.

'Is it because I helped him one time, that now he thinks I'm good or something? Hah, how innocent. Oh well, I'm bored anyways, I can play along.'

"Anyways, you wanna meet up at Dead Valley?" Spinner pulled him out of his introspection. The Dead Valley was a bar frequented by villains.

"Why?" Dabi looked at him.

"Meeting some people, pretty powerful that consider themselves higher up in the food chain. They call themselves the League." His classmate explained.

"League of what?"

"League of villains."

"Tsk sounds like another version of hero society to me. What's so special about meeting them ?"

"Apparently some guy named Shigaraki started it and is recruiting people. He's a weirdo I heard but unbeatable—some crazy quirk that he can't use all the time. Anything he touches with his bare hand turns to dust. And then there's also this guy that can warp objects named Kurogiri. The rest are villains with a vengeance."

'A guy who can disintegrate on touch and a warp master. Hm… maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to join. They could come in handy, and he could pick up a thing or two.' He was interested. Yet at the same time, he wasn't in the mood to be someone's lap dog or errand boy.

"So you coming?"

"... fine I guess I could squeeze in some time."

"Hah! What squeeze in? You got nothing to do!"

"Screw you." Dabi frowned. The elder went home, showered, and ate before flipping through the TV channels out of boredom. Nothing eventful was on, just more overrated stuff of a hero saving a kitten from a tree. He didn't hate heroes, but he wasn't a fan of the hype either. The overly enthusiastic, self-righteous, positive energy they forced. All of them were obsessed over the same thing and were quick to call others out for one small thing.

Everyone except that kid, he supposed. Which was quite surprising considering Endeavor the hotheaded hero was his father, who was the exact definition of what he had just explained. He looked just like the type to force his ideals on others. Though, all in all, he seemed like a good kid.

Ah, great, his thoughts were going to him again. He should just finish that assignment from yesterday and then meet up with the others later tonight.

Shoto came home and Endeavor was waiting for him. "…What are you doing home?" The teen questioned.

"I found out you a had a half day today, which the other half you'll be training with me. You don't have time to waste." Shoto heaved a tired sigh under his breath. "Meet me in the dojo." Of course, it wasn't up for debate, like he wasn't up early morning already to workout. Why did he even think, he'd catch a break today. Their father was so overbearing, it's no wonder Natsuo moved out. The teen dragged his feet to the dojo.

Dabi dressed casually in his white T-shirt and high ankle pants. He threw on an open buttoned navy shirt and called it a day, heading towards the bar. He showed his membership card and entered the place which was a little more packed then usual. The ravenette didn't see Spinner right away so shot him a text, who a minute later told him to come to the back.

Dabi trotted his way all the way to the back VIP room and entered to find a small group already waiting for him. He recognized the Shigiraki guy and Kurogiri, the warp master. Besides them, was Spinner.

"Yo, you made it."

"Finally. He has some nerve showing up late." Shigaraki grunted from near the table, sitting knee up.

"Yea…regretfully? So introductions?" Dabi raised a brow.

"You're the new one. You introduce yourself." Shigaraki clicked his tongue.

"Okay…prickly much. Dabi. That's all you need to know."

"…" Shigaraki stared at Dabi before turning his gaze to Kurogiri. "I don't like this guy's attitude already." The ravenette just feigned ignorance.

'I'm right here.' Dabi felt like sticking the tip of his tongue out and saying.

"You'll get used to his sour face." Spinner encouraged.

"My name is Kurogiri, my quirk allows me to warp time and teleport objects. We were told your quirk is fire?" Kurogiri then said.

"Not just ordinary fire. Blue flames. The hottest of its kind." Dabi answered more seriously.

"Is that why your arms are burnt?" Shigaraki studied his arms and face/neck.

'He wasn't totally dense.' Dabi thought.

"This is Shigaraki, our leader." Kurogiri officially announced.

"Hm~" Dabi hummed with a smile as the silverette reached out his care hand to shake it. However, Dabi only stared at it and the other stared at him back. The others quietly waited.

"Whatever he's in." The sileverette withdrew his hand.

'That's it?' Dabi was expecting more of a test.

"What would you like to drink?" Kurogiri asked from behind the mini private bar counter.

"I'll just have a tonic." Dabi walked towards him and sat on a stool. So, is this it? This is the league?"

"There are actually two more new recruits who are on their way—"

"Yooo! Anyone home?!" Toga slammed the door open.

"Since when did we start recruiting middle schoolers?" Shigaraki scowled.

"Are you for real right now?" Dabi blurted.

"Huh?! Dabi?! Heh, look at that!" Toga pointed at him right away in her loud voice. "And who's in middle school? I'm in high school!"

"Don't forget about me! Why am I here?" Twice was the third member that joined that day.

"Toga, quirk: duplication with DNA. Twice, quirk: cloning." Kurogiri introduced.

"They're annoying." Shigaraki remarked. "And they're late too."

"Everyone's annoying to you." Dabi confessed. The silverette looked at him. 'Ah shit, was he gonna kick him out?'

"You'll make it far if you've figured that much out right away." Their leader said, unsure to Dabi whether he was being sarcastic or not.

Kurogiri began again. "The league is spread out. Other members are around the city, you may not meet them regularly but they associate themselves with the League. This is so they can cover more bases and get individual tasks done."

"And what's the point of that?" Dabi posed.

"Overthrow hero society. They're a bunch of goody two shoe narcissists that think they're better than the rest." Shigaraki added.

'Interesting, that's kinda what I said but in more words,' The ravenette thought. 'But overthrow them? He's delusional…right?'

"I'm already in the process." The silverette assured. Dabi was dying to know how.

"But you guys are too new for that information. Once you prove your loyalty, I'll let you in on a little secret."

'What did he get himself into? This was gonna be something.' Dabi pondered.

Chapter Text

The next two days were quiet until Dabi received a message to meet up for a League meeting. They were given their assignments.

"Dammit, you can't just summon us whenever." Dabi complained at their League lair.

"Either this or your ass out and stalked, harassed for the rest of your life until you're forced to leave town 'cause you know too much now." Shigaraki threatened.

"I literally just joined two days ago—what secrets do I know?!"

"Your job is to set the forest on fire." The silverette ignored him. This was just a warm up activity to show the League's rebellion, simply to make the heroes aware of their anonymous presence.

This was a piece of cake for Dabi, however, his flames were too recognizable. He didn't know a single other quirk user in town with blue flames. Looks like he'll have to do this the old fashioned way. And so he did, to which they made headlines the next day. There were no cameras in the forest and it all happened over night so the heroes had no leads.

Dabi saw it on TV and he wasn't going to lie, it felt kind of badass. Like this could be a new hobby of his, stirring up trouble and getting away with it. It was oddly satisfying. 'Anyways, I gotta head to class now, already skipped the morning one.' Dabi thought. On his way to college, he stopped by the convenience store to get a drink of some sort.

While he was in the fridge aisle, and took a step back to close the door, he bumped into another person.

"Oh sorr—" Dabi turned his head to see a familiar dual haired teen unexpectedly standing there. The teen mouthed an apology which was cut short when he recognized the other. "Dabi?"

"Honor student." Dabi equally acknowledged.

Shoto gave him a deadpan look and reminded. "I have a name you know."

"Oh I know, but everyone probably calls you that name."

'Well that's true, no one called him that nickname.' The dual haired thought while the ravenette peeked to see what the other was buying off the high shelf. "Excuse me." The younger turned away and looked for his item.

"Need a hand?" It sounded cocky when coming out of Dabi's mouth.

"I can help myself." Shoto tiptoed and his fingers grazed the object but not fully gripping it. The elder crossed his arms and tilted his head, not willing to help him now unless he begged for help. After trying a few times, and not willing to knock over the other cans, Shoto slumped his shoulder with a sigh. "Are you just going to stand there?"

"Hn? Oh, I was waiting for you to ask. Need a hand? One longer and taller?"

Shoto really felt like slapping the smug off the other's face sometimes. "I don't respect your personality." He blurted.

Dabi was caught off guard for a brief second before he burst into laughter, holding himself back with a hand. "What the hell, so blunt." He amused. "You're amusing, kid."

'Again with the kid reference.' "How old are you then, grandfather?" The teen felt like retorting for a change.

"Older than you."

"Do you always have so much free time?"

"Damn, are you always so cold? But meh, sadly not always. I gotta be on my way." Dabi took the item Shoto wanted off the shelf and placed it right on the younger's head. The dual haired instantly grabbed it, their hands brushing briefly. "Well later than hero~" Dabi snickered before leaving with a partial wave inches away from his face.

"I don't get him…" Shoto bought his snacks and walked out of the store eventually as well. 'He's like one of those people you cant tell whose side they're on. Whether he could be trusted or not.'

A week or so went by and Shoto was hanging out with Deku and a few others from his class in a café. Before they entered the café, Shoto excused himself. One of the girls held his wrist. "You should come in with us, get a drink. You should socialize more."

"Social what?" Shoto repeated. For someone who was home schooled most of his life, he was a bit dense in these situations.

"It's true, you normally, just train and then go home right away." Deku also added.

"Hm," The dual haired couldn't deny that. He entered with them and ordered a warm latte. While the others chatted about and Shoto drank his drink, he noticed a familiar figure from the side of his eye. It took him a minute to recognize the other but the silhouette from the back looked very familiar. Dabi grabbed his iced coffee from the counter and turned 180 degrees to the other side, without noticing him at all. He trotted to a single table near the wall, pulling out a chair and his phone.

Shoto hadn't realized he was staring the whole time, but his curiosity couldn't take his eyes off. 'Was he meeting someone? He didn't seem like the type to chill in a café.' Though he shouldn't assume.

"What's wrong Todoroki-kun?" Deku asked out loud.

"Oh nothing." The dual haired suddenly felt weird. However, he couldn't help it. The more he ran into him, the more he felt wordlessly drawn. 'He chose ice coffee.' He mentally noted. It was the opposite to his. While Shoto sat there, glancing at the other secretly now and then, he had the urge to just walk up to Dabi. That was an unknown foreign compulsion. He was rarely the one who had the will to talk to someone first—usually it was the other way around.

He really felt like going over. 'But what would he say? Would that be weird? Ugh…what was he doing?' Shoto frowned, shutting his eyes and pinching his nose. "I'm going to get another drink." The dual haired told as he stood up on his own accord and waltzed to the counter.

"Huh? First he didn't want to join us but now he's getting two cups, nice." One of the girls remarked amusingly. Shoto ordered and picked up his drink, pausing once and turning briefly to where Dabi was sitting, much closer now than to where his table of friends were. However, this time around, Dabi looked up and met eyes. Shoto invisibly flinched.

"Honor student." It was subtle, but the ravenette didn't sound like his usual chipper self. He was still faking a carefree tone, but it was down a few notches.

"Not that again." The younger narrowed his eyes. "Don't you ever get tired of calling me that. Like I said, I have a name."

"Likewise."

"Dabi." Shoto mouthed without hesitation. The elder was taken aback for a moment, not expecting that. Then again, when was the last time he called him by his name.

The ravenette scoffed. Well, he was here for some alone time, but whatever. "You gonna just stand there, or sit down?"

The teen raised his brows. "Is that okay?" Dabi shrugged his shoulder in response. Shoto swallowed once and awkwardly pulled out a chair in front.

"Thank you." 'Okay now he was regretting. Why did he even approach him? It felt awkward for some reason. They weren't even friends.' Silence was their third company and the loudest one.

"Um, I'm assuming you live around here?"

"Mh, not that far." Dabi's responses were dead.

"Same." There was that darn silence again. 'Well that was a stupid question, of course he probably lived around here. Ugh why is socializing so hard?'

"Why are you so tense?" The ravenette casually pulled him out of his thoughts. "You're the one who was standing there." Shoto turned his gaze to find piercing turquoise eyes staring into his.

"I'm not tense." The teen lied, straightening his back, sipping his coffee.

"Heh, keep telling yourself that."

"...do you come here often?"

"Nah. I'd prefer to stay at home, or maybe a bar." The ravenette told.

'That made sense.' Shoto thought.

"But I have my days every now and then. I don't see you here often though." Dabi continued.

"I kind of prefer staying at home too."

"Haha." It was weak but they felt connected and a little more comfortable with each other. "Do you live in the dorms?"

"No at home. My dad insists on personally training me."

"Only kid I bet? If you're getting all the attention." The ravenette joked.

"No my older sister lives in the same house. And I have an older brother who lives in his college dorms."

"Oh, so the youngest? That's suits ya."

"How so? What about you? How many siblings do you have?"

"None. It's just me."

"I see. Your house must be pretty peaceful." Shoto blurted.

"Pretty much, it's just my old man, but I live alone anyways."

Shoto looked puzzled. "Why do you need your own place when it's just the two of you?"

"Pffft, I don't know. Just wanted to?" The elder responded and Shoto left it at that. "So, what's it like being the son of the number two hero? I bet that's why you're a hero too?"

The teen didn't have an answer to that right away. "You have no idea. And no, I'm not a hero because of him. Maybe he's forcing the role on me, but I've always watched All-might growing up."

"That again. All-might sure is a role model for everyone." Dabi commented, jaw resting on his knuckles.

"Do you not like All-might?" The younger asked genuinely surprised someone like that could exist.

Dabi internally found that innocent. "Nothing against him, but not exactly looking up to him either."

"Then why are you trying be a villain?"

"No reason. Just because?" he shrugged again.

"Just because?" The younger repeated, not entirely satisfied by the answer. There had to be a bigger reason for everyone to choose one or the other. Otherwise they could've been normal mundane citizens.

"That reason not good enough for you?" The elder picked up on his distaste.

"Well I suppose it doesn't really matter."

"Look I just didn't feel the hero vibes so I picked the next best thing." Dabi didn't know why he found the need to explain himself.

"Okay." The conversation died again and weirdly enough Shoto was missing it. They seemed to get along fine despite having nothing in common. Actually there was one thing… "Where do you get your quirk from?"

Dabi shot him a confused look. "Dunno."

"Huh? What do you mean? I've never seen blue flames before. Did you not inherit from your father?"

"No. He doesn't have any quirks."

"Then your mom?"

"Don't know her."

"Oh, sorry." Now the teen felt as if he shouldn't have probed as much. Where the quirk came from shouldn't be a concern as long as it was his now. And it was one hell of a quirk too.

"Pst, what're you apologizing fer? Too nice." Dabi teased. "You gonna believe everything I say?"

Shoto blinked once. "Wait were you lying?" He felt embarrassed and was fighting a mild blush.

Dabi chuckled. "No, but could you tell?" The younger rolled his eyes with annoyance. "Aw, you're sulking, how cute~"

"W-what? Who's sulking?"

"Are you blushing?"

"No."

"You are. Look your cheeks are turning the same color as your hair."

"You're making stuff up again—that's not physically possible." 'Why did Shoto put up with him?'

"Want me to get you a mirror?"

"Ugh, forget it. I was leaving anyway." Shoto wasn't used to dealing with this kind of demeanor. The teen was about to stand up again but the other grabbed his wrist.

"Did I make our honor student mad? Whatever can I do to have his highness's forgiveness?" Dabi was smirking per usual, clearly mocking.

Shoto pulled away from his aggressively. "Are you ever serious? Do you act like this with everyone? It's childish. Is this why you're sitting alone?" Shoto immediately regretted the last part, it was said out of frustration.

Dabi's brow twitched once. "Someone's pissed."

Shoto sighed and left the other to his fake smiles. He returned to his table and wow had he completely forgotten about his group of friends. They were all staring wonders at him. The teen wanted to close his eyes and simply disappear. Any minute now—

"Todoroki-kun who was that? He looks older than us—a friend? I didn't know you knew people outsode school?" Deku was the first to ask.

"He's kinda hot though, what's your relationship to him? You think you can introduce us?" One of the girls asked.

"Damn Todoroki being the one to willing sit with someone and chat? What are we missing here?" Kaminari commented next.

"Uh…it's not what you guys think, trust me…" Shoto began, unconvincingly. "I don't know him, we've just run into each other a few times that's all and he's annoying to get along with so I wouldn't recommend it."

"Oh, he's hiding something~" A whisper emerged from the girls.

The dual haired frowned. "Id you'll excuse me, I have to go home now or else my father will be displeased. Bye." He quickly excused himself.

"Todoroki-kun—ah, he left…" Deku tried to call after him but to no avail.

Shoto made it home a little late and his father was waiting for him. "What took you so long?"

"It's my fault, I was late."

"What were you doing?"

"Does it matter? I was hanging out with a few friends."

"You don't have time to be wasting with things such as friends. These years are the most important for you especially if you want to surpass All-Might. Now meet me in the dojo and no more hanging out." Enji exclaimed.

Shoto exhaled hard as he watched his father turn and walk into the house. No such thing as a break here.

Dabi was lounging in the League's lair, their typical VIP room in the back of their bar. Shigaraki was going over their next rebellious plan.

"Alright listen up you punks. Those pesky hero students from U.A. are really starting to get on my nerves. They're always lurking around everywhere. We're going to pay their school a visit and kidnap any two of these." The silverette gestured to Kurogiri who placed a paper, a list on the counter. The paper was passed around and when it came to Dabi. He noticed Shoto's name on the list.

'Hm…' Dabi stared at the name.

Chapter Text

The silverette gestured to Kurogiri who placed a list on the counter. The paper was passed around and when it came to Dabi. He noticed Shoto's name on the list.

'Hm…' Dabi stared at the name.

Shoto was perusing through the flower shop. It had been three weeks since he last visited his mother at the hospital and he wanted to buy her some nice flowers. He usually visited every other week, alternating with Fuyumi and Natsuo.

Dabi was passing by when he spotted a familiar spot of red in seas of purple flowers. He halted in his steps, did a double take, and stared a minute longer to confirm it was the same person. 'In a flower shop?' The ravenette raised a very curious brow. 'Just who exactly was he buying flowers for? Someone like him? Socially awkward.'

'Which ones…' Shoto glanced up and down the plants. He moved one of stems away and was jump scared by a face staring straight at him. The dual haired stumped back, heartbeat darting.

"Who are the flowers for?" the question couldn't leave the elder's tongue any sooner.

"H-huh?" Was all the teen could muster, brain still trying to process how Dabi was standing in front of him like that.

"I didn't know even the honor student had a crush."

"…What does that have to do with you?" Shoto may be imagining too much, but Dabi almost sounded jealous. It was kind of funny and maybe cute.

The ravenette wasn't expecting that response. "What is this? You're actually hiding it—hah! Lil' Shoto is growing up?" He pinched his cheek. The younger pulled away frowning.

"Stop, it's for my mom."

Dabi retracted his hand. "Your mom?"

"Yes. She's in the hospital."

"Hm," Dabi bobbed his head once up and down slowly, digesting the info. "I see." He was inclined to ask more but at the same time didn't deem this to be the time and place. "So, you picked anything yet?"

"Not yet. I couldn't decide."

"What's there to decide? Just take anything that looks nice, geez, you're just over complicating it in your little head."

"Like what?" Shoto sounded mildly annoyed.

"Here, take these." The ravenette picked out a bunch of pink and sky-blue tulips. "These'll get the job done."

"Um, okay, thanks?" Shoto didn't hate the flowers, in fact they seemed like a perfect option for something chosen at random. "I should pay for these. Were you here to buy flowers too?"

"Me? Pshhh, eff no. For who, exactly? I just came to troll." Dabi answered carefree. Shoto only stared at him in response.

"Right…I should get going then."

"Don't let me stop you." Dabi waved and the dual haired bowed his head once out of courtesy. The elder watched the teen walk away. He looked like a sweet little thing holding those flowers.

'His mom huh…'

The League of Villains raided their school one afternoon during Class 1A's training camp. It all started with Kurogiri surrounding them and the other villains joining in concurrently. It came to the point where Aizawa had to get involved especially when Shigaraki made an appearance. Shoto tried to freeze the villains where he could but there were too many for them to handle all at once. Furthermore, Kurogiri dispersed some of the students. He noticed Bakugo and Kirishima were missing along with Tokoyami and Koda.

Not long after, in the midst of his battle, he also blinked and opened his eyes to a new surrounding. 'What the? When did he…' Shoto studied his environment, he was on a rocky uneven terrain, similar to the indoor training camp but he knew this wasn't the same place. A few of the villains transferred over as well and demanded the younger's attention almost immediately. Shoto fought without question.

"Hahaha! That was fun, the look on his face, so worth it~" Dabi laughed out loud, returning from the scene where he ambushed one of the teachers from the other classes. He utilized Twice's clones to carry out the attack while his real body was waking back miles away from the scene. 'This might be fun after all, even if it is a bit of a risk. Maybe that's what makes it more exhilarating.'

He hiked through the rocky paths, hoping down from the higher rocks, to the foot trail until the ground shook. 'Great, now would be a great time for an earthquake.' The ravenette sarcastically thought. He heard an explosion and followed it around. Another rumble and boulders crashed beside him which he instinctively ducked. Between rocks and debri he saw a silhouette flying past him into the air.

'What the fxck—' Dabi peeked through his defense and recognized an all too familiar student. 'Shoto?' The ravenette's body moved on its own and he reached to grab the teen; however, the next minute he was tumbling down as well. Shoto was unconscious, probably from the blow or maybe a hit to the head against one of the rocks, so Dabi held his body close. They hit a couple uneven rocks on the way down and finally landed on Dabi's back. 'Shit how do I get myself in these situations?' He thought with a grunt. He then looked down at the teen to study him who was still unconscious.

The ravenette's hands shifted as he pushed to sit up and unintentionally palmed Shoto's butt. The first and only thing running through Dabi's mind was how firm it was. It was unusual for him, but he felt something in him stiffen. He then noticed the teen stirring and expression contorting.

"Mhh…" Shoto cracked his eyes open, feeling a throb at the back of his head. He moved his hands and felt something soft. 'Someone's chest?' The teen noticed he was laying on top someone and slowly looked up.

"This is gonna look weirder than it is, okay." Dabi forced an awkward grin as heterochromic eyes stared baffled at him. With no further words exchanged, the younger almost immediately thrusted himself away, heart losing its regular rhythm.

"W-what? How?" Shoto was at a loss of words, this was very different from what he last remembered.

"Relax. I'm a victim too." The elder held his hands up, surrendering. Shoto wasn't taking him too seriously. 'How is he so calm? Does he have any idea I'm with the people that attacked his school? I guess not…' "I was just passing by and saw someone flying, didn't expect to be thrown off too in the middle of my good deed."

'Oh, so he saved me…' Shoto concluded as he looked back up to the top of hill where they were previously fighting. "You…really have impeccable timing…" Just like in the café, the flower shop, and now here, their paths kept crossing into each other and somehow Dabi always ended up helping him out. 'Did he really want to be a villain? Because he seemed like an unintentional hero…'

"What?" The ravenette croaked when the younger continued to stare at him pensively.

"Nothing…" The teen composed himself. "The Leaue attacked our school, I have to get back and help them out. …You have a very strong quirk, perhaps you could lend a hand? Even Aizawa-sensei has his hands tied." He debriefed while standing up and patting himself down.

The elder stood after him, only smiling innocently. This was one sticky situation… "Yea…I don't know about that…I got some assignments that need finishing…" Dabi sheepishly scratched his cheek, looking away, obviously lying. Shoto furrowed his brows in confusion.

'Right, what was he thinking? He was the hero, not Dabi. He can't rely on others forever or put them in danger.'

The ravenette could see the conflict on the teen's face and actual guilt sank into his soul. "Hey, tell ya what?" The elder moved closer as they began to walk up the trail and placed a hand on the other's shoulder. Something about him, wanted him to be so touchy with the teen. He swore he was never this handsy with anyone else, neither did he care. "That Kurogiri guy, his weak points are his metal plates since they're physical." He whispered close to his ear. "You can hold him down that way."

More than the words that were spoken, Shoto was wary of the proximity between them. He could feel Dabi's cool breath on against his cheeks. He was reminded of how they were on top of each other not that long ago and how Dabi was holding him. It was too intimate for him and his body was growing warmer just thinking about it again.

'No, now's not the time.' Shoto internally shook himself. 'Wait, hold on, but how did he know about—' His thoughts were interrupted by his phone beeping which he looked down to attend. "Hello?"

"Todoroki-kun? Are you okay? Where are you?" Deku's urgent voice came out.

"I'm...somewhere—what's going on back at school?" The teen switched the subject instead.

"Oh that, Al-Might came and took care of them, they ended up retreating." Deku explained.

"That's great… I'll head back now." The dual haired told and hung up. "Looks like we won't need that help after all, it's taken care of." He informed Dabi.

"Well, would you look at that." The elder raised both his brows and cocked a smile, satisfied with the outcome. "Then, time to go home~"

"I have to stop by the school though, we still have class,"

"Geez, so uptight, you sure you don't wanna skip?" Shoto turned his whole head around to give him a look. "Kidding~" Dabi grinned, removing his hands. "Let's head back together." And so, they did.

The two came to a point near U.A. High where they had to separate. They were still a while away, but Dabi halted. "Okay, honor student I'd see you off all the way but looks like this is where I turn back."

"Yeah that's fine… you didn't need to come all the way, I told you we didn't need help anymore." Shoto stopped as well to face him.

"I know, I know. So what? I was headed the same way anyways." The ravenette smiled, stepping closer and rubbing his thumb on the younger's cheek. "I told ya, you overthink too much." Shoto stared into Dabi's oddly calm turquoise eyes looking back down at him. It was like he was looking at the true Dabi, someone who wasn't just acting carefree or playing a character. The younger felt frozen in place, yet the air around him felt warm and dense.

Shoto blinked out of his trance and turned towards Dabi's hand who slowly withdrew it picking up on the stiffness. "It was just a bit of dirt." Dabi played it cool as he showed his thumb.

"Oh, okay…thanks." The teen muttered, rubbing the side of his neck to calm his nerves.

'I better leave before they spot me.' Dabi's mind spoke but his body hardly budged. The dual haired hero standing there on edge and fidgety was quite a sight. "Okay, see ya hero."

"Bye." Shoto partially waved as Dabi dashed away. 'He was so cool sometimes. Doing whatever he wanted when he wanted. The complete opposite of him…'

The younger didn't stall for long and marched into his school, meeting up with the rest of his classmates as other heroes moved broken infrastructure around while the medics tended to the injured students and Aizawa-sensei. The students lined up and got evaluated. Shoto stood near the end of the line spaced out, gaze somewhere lost in space beneath him.

"Hey, Todoroki-kun, are you sure you're okay?" He wouldn't have known Deku was talking to him if it had not been for his name.

"Hn?" The dual haired looked up at him listlessly. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just a mild headache. Why?"

"You just seem out of it—I mean what happened shocked us all a bit but…"

"Oh that. No… I wasn't necessarily thinking about the villains. I just had…something else on my mind." The dual quirk user tried to convince.

"Oh I see…did something else happen?" The green haired probed.

'He ran into Dabi. And he was having mixed feelings towards him. That would probably sum everything up.' Shoto thought. "it's complicated…" He exhaled. To think of all the things that happened, this was on his mind. But he couldn't help it, his heart had a hard time staying on track whenever Dabi touched him, smiled at him so casually and stared at him with that unwavering fixed gaze. He was too much and Shoto never felt that way before. He also didn't understand why he was so drawn to the elder teen. Sure, he was cool, charming, powerful, and seemed to just be capable of doing anything he put his mind to but...

"You overthink too much~" Dabi's words replayed in his head conveniently.

Shoto considered getting a second opinion since it seemed like they'd be on the line for a minute. "…do I think too much?"

"Hm…that's random…Depends on what, I guess. I think being able to logically think through everything isn't a bad thing."

"Well, what if it's not hero related. In general, maybe…about having conflicting thoughts about a…person?"

"Oh. Interesting…people can be difficult to judge sometimes but I guess in that regard yeah…you can be a little closed off haha. I think maybe sometimes you should just let your mind go and follow your heart."

Shoto nodded. That pretty much confirmed what he needed to know. 'Follow his heart huh?' He echoed as he rubbed his right cheek, the same one Dabi caressed.

After that attack, things went back to normal for a period of time. Shigaraki still needed a group of them to carry out their first group mission which was kidnapping one or two of the students on the list but at the moment, classes were still the same.

Dabi received flowers from an anonymous someone. "Ah fxck no." The ravenette cringed so hard. One of his classmates was passing by when Dabi was angling the bouquet towards a trash can.

"Whoa~ that's such a waste!"

"What the fxck am I supposed to do with them?" Dabi turned his attention to the other.

"They're flowers, it's a nice gesture. Even if you're not interested, it's the thought that counts, doesn't it? Just keep them."

"I'd rather be seen dead than with these." His mind was made and he was going to chuck them. That is until he noticed a bunch of rowdy students from U.A. crossing the street. "Hm…" Dabi retracted the flowers and bounced them on his chin. 'I wonder how he'd react to something like this. That kid hardly has a change in expression.' Trolling the dual-haired was turning into his new hobby. On second thought, he threw the flowers over his shoulder and headed in the direction of U.A. High.

On the flip side, Shoto was standing by his lockers, changing his shoes. The lockers were exposed to the outside in an open hall. He also obtained a few plastic bags of cookies from other girl classmates which he respectfully declined but he could be a pushover at times. 'Oh well, I'll just pass them to Natsuo and Fuyumi. They'll be more than happy.'

The dual haired opened his lockers and was stunned to see it stuffed with deep blue roses, small petals fluttering to the ground, taking up the entire space. 'What the?' The dual haired instantly whipped his head around to find no suspect nearby or leaving the location. Neither was anyone hiding or popping out to see his reaction. He took out the bouquet and observed the flowers. They were such a unique vivid blue. A small post-it fell out from them and the teen reached down to pick it up.

Too bad I can't see your reaction in person~

Shoto only raised a confused brow. He had no idea who this was from. Had to be a girl but that message… The dark blue of the roses did remind him of someone.

"So, you do like flowers? Aren't they special?" A girl caught his attention as she walked pass him.

"Yea they are. Did you happen to see who left them?" the dual asked.

"I saw someone pass them to a student at the gate. They stood out so much I couldn't help but look." She answered.

"What did the person look like?" 'Did he have a stalker or something?'

"Hm…black hair, burnt skin, didn't look like a student here."

"What?" That description regardless of how brief, was way too specific of a certain someone. 'Dabi…? But why would he…what is he playing at? He was such an unusual individual sometimes.' The girl shrugged and Shoto thanked her before walking away with the flowers. He was semi regretting that because all eyes were on him as he walked down the front yard to the main gates holding a huge bouquet of cobalt blue roses. 'Was this part of his mind games again…?' Shoto wondered as he made it to the gate.

"They suit you, honor student~" A voice startled him and he whipped his head to see Dabi leaning against the brick wall of the gates. The elder teen grinned away feigning innocence.

"It's you… what's with the roses…? Are these really from you?"

"Well…yes and no?"

The dual haired only gave him a deadpan incredulous look.

"Why? You like them?"

"I mean…they're nice but…I just don't understand…"

Dabi came off the wall and trotted towards the teen, placing a casual hand on his shoulder. "There you again, overthinking it~ Just keep 'em, I sure as hell don't need them." He mumbled the last part. With that he began to walk away like he was on his way, peeking back over his shoulder at the younger teen once. Shoto was looking down at the blazing roses, gears probably coming up with a multitude of possibilities and scenarios but at the same time, Dabi could see a faint almost inconspicuous blush dusting one of his cheeks.

'Ah shit' Dabi was going enjoying this too much. Something in him couldn't leave the teen away. And it wasn't entirely his own fault, the awkward teen himself was too cute for his own good.

Chapter Text

On the way home, Shoto marveled at the flowers. 'It was still something really nice of him to do, considering he's not that type.' The dual haired couldn't help but feel warmth leaking into his blood stream. Dabi was the aloof and indifferent type but maybe he had a caring side after all.

When he came home, he asked Fuyumi to place them in a vase full of water which he took to his room. He fixed them on the window sill where the sunrays could add a nice glow to them. Unexpectedly they added a perfect finishing touch to his room and probably the only most vivid color there. Staring at the flowers, it made Shoto want to return the favor. The elder did help him out plenty of times, maybe a small thank you gift wouldn't be a terrible idea. 'But what exactly? For someone like Dabi…'

"Oh wow! Those look so nice indeed!" Fuyumi scared him. He turned to find her standing right beside him in his room.

"Uh, yeah."

"I'm assuming they're a gift? They have to be, there's no way you bought them for your room suddenly."

"Okay… maybe they are. So?"

"Oh my God Shoto." Fuyumi stared at him with eyes and a hand covering her mouth. "From who? You've never received flowers—and not roses before." To say his sister was curious was an understatement.

"It's not what you think it is." Shoto answered with a troubled expression. She wouldn't drop this, he already knew.

"A girl?"

"No."

"…A guy?"

"…Fuyumi, seriously?"

"Oh come on, I'm sorry Shoto, but I'm just so curious."

"Don't worry about it, someone just randomly gave them to me. It's not that deep."

"Hm…okay fine, if you say so. But," She hesitated for a second to make sure her words came out right. "Don't be afraid to explore."

"…What do you mean?"

"I mean…you're always so reserved, it's great that you're very focused on your training and school, but sometimes I feel like you're missing out on the normal pleasures of life. So don't hold back your feelings, if any."

Shoto raised a brow. She was saying a lot and nothing that applied to him at the same time. Or did it? He did have this unspoken attraction towards the elder teen. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." Shoto ended that thought and thanked his sister instead so she could leave his room. Even after the door closed, he stood there pensively for a moment longer.

"Freakin half-n-half! What's your problem?!" Bakugo suddenly shouted at him.

"Excuse me?" Shoto was in a trance but broke out of it to look at him. They were in the middle of changing classes, waiting for the second bell and the teacher to enter the room.

"You're glaring at me!" The blond accused.

Shoto relaxed his shoulders. He hadn't realized he was frowning while staring forward, or more like into space. "I wasn't…glaring…at you at least." The blond was sitting backwards in his chair, a table ahead of him, talking to Kirishima when he noticed the dual haired.

"Just put your head down or something—you're distracting!" Bakugo dismissed rudely. Shoto merely sighed and left it at that. He wasn't in the mood or had the energy to argue anyways.

"Something on your mind, Todoroki-kun?" Kaminari interjected from the parallel desk.

"A bit."

"A bit?"

"Well…I was trying to figure out something but having a difficult time." The dual haired confessed.

"Class related?" The other teen guessed.

"No. Person related."

"Oh."

"Nevermind." It wasn't Shoto's nature to express himself.

"No, I mean you can tell me! Maybe I can help!" The blond felt guilty for judging so blatantly.

"No it's fine." Shoto turned away.

"Hm…are you tryna get them something?"

Shoto instantly swerved his head back towards the electric quirk user. "How did you know?"

Denki patted himself on the back internally. 'Lucky guess?' "See, I'm good at this stuff, so you can confide in yours truly." He swiped his nose proudly. "So, who's the receiver? A friend? A lover?"

"No, nothing like that…maybe an acquaintance…? I don't even know what we are honestly, I just run into him a lot."

"Oh so, it's a he. That can't be so hard. What's the occasion? Birthday?"

"In…appreciation? A small thank you?" Shoto answered, not fully sure how to explain it himself.

"Hm, how old?"

"In college. So older than us but not that much older I'd say."

"Any interests?"

"I don't know."

Kaminari stared at him. That sounded like Shoto alright. Man of few words.

"Okay, let's see…I mean it's a guy, anything could work. A wallet, a jersey, a badass pocket knife, you pick~"

None of those sounded like they hit the mark until the last one. "Wait. A pocket knife?" Why did that sound up to Dabi's alley or something he'd hype over?

"Yeah, there's plenty. A sick foldable one with a keychain or something—that'd be cool as hell. And it'll come in handy if he's fighting. He a hero?"

"Villain, more like—"

"Even better then!" Kaminari's energy sold the idea to the dual haired.

"Okay, I think that works." Shoto didn't show it much in his expression but his tone was optimistic.

"Lemme show you some right now." Kaminari went on his phone and leaned over, Shoto doing the same as they browsed online like two enthusiastic kids.

'Alright. I have it…but how do I give it to him?' Shoto paced with the small gift box wrapped with a ribbon in his hands. He was right outside the U.A. university but couldn't simply enter the campus. 'Furthermore, why was he so nervous?! He was just passing along a small appreciation gift—that's it. Nothing more, nothing less.' Then again, this was all new for Shoto. When was the last time he physically gave someone a present?

'Should he just wait for him outside? He didn't have the other's number or anything. I mean, why would he?' Shoto huffed. Before he could make up his mind, he heard a woman scream, prompting him to swing his body in that direction.

"Help! There's a monster!" People came running from the oncoming direction and yards away Shoto made out a weird muscular creature with the body of Hulk and mouth of a bear trap. The creature was absurd with its brains exposed and expression maniac yet blank like it was programmed to only destroy.

Shoto stuffed the gift in his messenger bag and decided to take a little detour instead. The teen ran towards the thing and used his ice powers right away to freeze the monster's leg while people fled the scene. The monster broke through the ice barrier fairly quickly and swung at the teen who dodged and froze his arm instead. While the teen was at it, he also sent a signal to the heroes to alert them of this presence.

He stalled for time and managed a few hits, until he was thrown across the street towards the university street. The commotion caused the university students to exit the building too. During the tussle, Shoto's messenger bag flap opened up a bit, some of his pens and the gift box rolling out. In the heat of the moment, he failed to realize it and hopped back towards the monster.

Unmistakable blue flames blazed towards the creature and took it by surprise. Simultaneously, the professional heroes surrounded the area as well and Shoto accepted the back seat. He wiped the dust off his chin until someone approached him from behind.

"I believe this belongs to you." The teen rotated to face the other and was briefly shook to see Dabi standing there holding out his present. Shoto's heart skipped a beat when he saw the elder casually gazing at him. 'Of course. Why was he surprised? Those blue flames undeniably came from Dabi.'

"Ah that. Um, actually that's yours." Shoto disclosed.

"What? No, it's not. It came out of your bag."

"No, I meant it's for you."

Dabi looked impressed, studying the box forward and backwards. "From who? You?" The elder raised both brows and looked straight at him, eyes eager to know. The younger nodded. "Damn~ To what do I owe the pleasure? I don't remember it being my birthday."

"It's nothing." Shoto rubbed the side of his neck. "Just a little thank you, for you know the flowers and helping me out that time when the League attacked."

"Aww, aren't you cute?" Dabi shamelessly teased, putting the other on the spot. The ravenette didn't waste time and began ripping the wrapping despite a whole attack taking place behind them. "What's this? Did our honor student come up with this by himself—you have good taste. I should give you more credit." Dabi played with the retractable butterfly knife with a keychain hook, swinging it around his finger.

'Actually it was Kaminari's idea…' Shoto stifled the urge to say. He'll take the credit for now.

Meanwhile Dabi swirled the steel blade in his hands, lips unable to stop smiling on their own. What was this feeling? It had been a while, like he just got a Christmas gift for the first time or something.

Flying boulders and debri over their heads brought both of them back to reality. "I think this probably isn't the best place for this." Shoto commented expressionlessly making the other laugh.

"Right?"

"What is that thing?" Shoto was looking back at it while the heroes contained it. A good portion of it had been burned by Dabi's flames anyhow.

"A Nomu. That's what they call it."

"Who?"

"The league."

'So this is the League of Villain's doing?' Shoto echoed.

"But that aside," The ravenette nonchalantly brushed that aside and continued. "You ate yet?"

"No. I didn't."

"Then let's go. What you in the mood for? My treat. I'm in a good mood~"

"What? No, of course not. Ill pay half."

"Don't sweat it, peppermint. I gotchu, since you got me this~" Dabi swung the Keychain around his finger with a wide smirk on his face as he began turning away. Shoto's footsteps followed suit without question. He didn't expect the other to be this excited from the present. It brought so much joy to him to know that.

'But peppermint?'

"Soba? Of all the places you could've picked." Dabi blurted. as they stood in front of small shop.

"I like Soba." Shoto didn't see anything wrong with his pick.

"Okay okay, sure, whatever his highness wants." Dabi led them into the store. Shoto noticed the third new nickname and truthfully he didn't mind them at all. In fact he was amazed at how naturally they flowed between them even though they weren't even 'friends.'

"One bowl of cold Soba please." Shoto ordered as he sat on top of the stool at the counter.

"Cold? Make that two." Dabi quickly added after the initial double take. "So this is what the honor student eats? Pretty basic."

"Sometimes simple is strong." Shoto monotonously responded, already digging in.

"Hmph. True, I suppose." The ravenette scoffed, eyes not leaving the teen the entire time as he did. Meanwhile Shoto slurped away and enjoyed the newfound silent company. Both teens ate in peace without many words exchanged and neither of them complained.

"You dumbass! You ruined my Nomu!" Shigaraki yelled at the ravenette, who only rolled his eyes without regard. "You have one chance to redeem yourself and I want those hero students! We need to instill fear in these heroes, and I want inside information."

'Hm…the loud blond, the bird, or Shoto…or all.' Dabi rehearsed the students on the list he previously saw. 'Kidnapping Shoto and bringing him back here…? He couldn't allow that.'

"Their class is going on another training camp—so get on it!" Their boss demanded.

It was true, in two weeks' time, the U.A. class had moved to a training camp near the forest for the weekend. Dabi, Compress, Twice and Toga all gathered around the area and waited for the right opportunity to attack. It wasn't until the next day when the teens split up in the forest that the villains decided to drop by. Shoto, Midoriya, Bakugo, Tokoyami and Shoji all ended up together when Compress, Toga, and Dabi barged in. The teens weren't expecting the League all the way out there but nonetheless, tried to hold their own.

"Leave the split top to me." Dabi muttered to Compress in the middle away from the teen's ears.

"No!" Deku screamed as he ran after but was tackled by Toga fangirling all after his blood.

While the teens were shocked to see the League, Shoto was absolutely dumbfounded to find a certain ravenette with blue flames standing right besides him. Something told him, that was no coincidence. If anything, the ravenette almost looked in charge of all this. He would love to face him but Twice kept him busy. The dual haired attacked and defended with his ice quirk for the most part until Shoji called out.

"Midoriya! Todoroki! We're running away!"

Shoto clenched his jaw, unwilling to retreat just like that but had no other choice. He would have to deal with Dabi later…if that was even an option anymore. Shoto created a barrier of ice between the villains and himself while he ran towards his classmates. Albeit, their retreat was truncated when a familiar smoke of black and purple blocked their way.

'Kurogiri!' Shoto recognized.

"Let us go, Dabi." Kurogiri instructed. The teens looked back at Compress, who opened his mouth to reveal two tiny marbles with Tokoyami and Bakugo trapped in.

"N-no way!" Both Deku and Shoto cried out in unison. Compress grinned until a novel laser shot from the depths of the forest and broke his mask, releasing the marbles. Shoji and Shoto instantly jumped forward to grab them, Shoji catching the first but Dabi palming the second one instead. Shoto stared wide eyed, staring into deep turquoise eyes.

"Feels like a déjà vu, no?" Dabi was pretending to grin but his tone seemed forced and tense. Shoto couldn't believe it. Was Dabi even who he said he was this entire time? His entire being was beginning to come into question... And the teen didn't like it at all.

Chapter Text

Shoto was hurt, angry, betrayed and everything of the sort. He wasn’t one to get carried away by intense emotions but this was one of those times and it was throwing him off his game.

‘All this time, Dabi was working with the league? Attacking their school, endangering innocent lives…?’ When Shoto thought about it, it made sense how he kept running into the elder every time the League was involved. ‘Wow he was such a fool for not figuring it out.’ The teen swung the door to his inn room open. ‘All this time when he thought they were getting closer, how much of it was actually true? Was the villain playing with him? Killing time? Or trying to get close to gain Intel from him?’ the teen restlessly sat on the bed pondering all these scenarios. Despite his circumstance, all those accusations still didn’t sit right with him. Even if he didn’t know the real Dabi, given the other’s personality, he couldn't see Dabi as someone purely evil. But was he being naïve? 

“Ugh.” The teen ruffled his hair as he put his head down in his palms. This was driving him crazy. He didn't know what to think. What on earth happened to his rationale? He hoped the other had his reasons for doing so. Either way, they had to save Bakugo somehow.

All Might was called, and the League’s hideout was uncovered. Deku, Kirishima, Iida, Momo and Shoto followed along in disguises. They allowed All Might to barge in first while the villains were distracted. Shoto and Momo stayed on watch while Ida and Deku used their quirks to boost them up themselves and Kirishima up. Shoto’s ice quirk helped create a ramp for them to glide into the sky, giving them a Birdseye view of Bakugo who stood surrounded by the League and Shigaraki. As soon as Bakugo saw the teens, Kirishima’s call was all he needed to blast himself into the sky towards them. He grabbed on to the redhead’s hand and cackled at their insanity. Shigaraki cried out in anger as he missed the chance to grab hold of the blond.

Shoto and Momo also got the signal and began to retreat. The teen missed the chance to see Dabi who wasn’t part of the initial villain circle. Either way, he was disappointed at the elder teen.

After the whole ordeal, the teens came back home from their trip. Shoto entered his room and automatically saw the blue roses shining at his window. He dumped the duffel bag on his bed and reached for the roses. The dual haired raised his arm ready to toss them on the floor or throw them out but something in him couldn’t bring himself to do so. He ended up putting the flowers down and hoped the villain had his reasons.

Shoto left his room, walking down the hall and into the foyer. “Where are you going?” Fuyumi questioned from the living room sofa.

“…just a walk.”

“But you just got back?”

“Yeah, I know. But…I just need some fresh air…”

“Okay, be careful, don’t stay out too late, its going to get dark soon.” She told. The younger nodded and headed out.

The air was cool, the sun was slowly setting, and there was a nice breeze in the air. Shoto silently walked down the streets. There was so much on his mind yet it was blank at the same time. That is, until something pulled his arm into an alley. “What—”

“Yo.” A figure nonchalantly pulled down his hood to reveal a semi-burned jaw.

“You!” Shoto instantly jerked away. “You have some nerve to—”

“Hey, hey, keep it down, you want to create attention?”

“Why are you even here?” Shoto was spiteful. He was ready to report the villain. What else could he do? He was a hero and Dabi was part of the League of Villains, a wanted group. He couldn’t interact with them so casually. “Do you even realize what you’re doing?”

“Why? You gonna report me?” Dabi’s tone was much too relaxed for the position he was in.

“What makes you think I won’t?”

“Hmm…I wonder. Will you?”

“Regardless, you’re a wanted criminal. You never said you were associated with the League of Villains—do you realize what they’ve done and how many people they’ve endangered? Are you really okay with that?”

“I think you’re thinking too deep about this.”

“I’m thinking too much?!” Shoto for some reason, couldn’t keep his cool.

“What did I say about keeping it lowkey?” Dabi quickly glanced around.

“I can’t. Do not seek me out again. I will report you to the heroes. I don’t want to be associated with a criminal.” Shoto turned face.

“Wait—” Dabi grabbed his elbow. “Are you serious?” Shoto stared him back.

“Do I look like I’m joking?”

“…” Dabi was at a loss for words momentarily. He didn’t think the teen would be this aggravated and while he could laugh it off, something told him he would lose the teen if he did. “What did I do?” The ravenette had no ill intention behind the question but it came across very ignorant to Shoto.

“You’re part of the league! You’re part of an organization that is harming innocent people and even helped kidnap one of our classmates! You betrayed my trust!” Shoto’s voice broke towards the end. That was probably the part that hurt the most but he didn’t want to admit it so easily. Except, Dabi was acting so dense, he had to.

The elder’s eyes widened, baffled turquoise orbs stared straight into angry hurt heterochromic ones.

“Let go.” Shoto said in a tone that was fed up and done with their conversation.

“Hear me out. It’s not what you think.” Dabi couldn’t let go. Why did he care if the other misunderstood? He had plenty of people cling to him and rant to him and he wouldn’t give two flying shits. So why this did this kid’s hurt expression pierce his insides?

“Is it? You’re part of an evil organization.”

“I’m not evil.” The elder instantly clarified first. “Sure I don’t give a shit about a lot of things but it’s not like that. I didn’t personally kill anyone.”

“Then why are you involved with the League? You didn’t seem so against it when you kidnapped Bakugo.”

The elder sighed in frustration. This was getting messy, but he had no choice but to answer to the younger on impulse. “I only joined for fun, I didn’t think much of it. And that was just a side mission, I didn’t have a choice—not like they were going to kill him—”

“You’re not regretful at all—”

“Would it rather be you?!”

“What?” Shoto choked.

“Dammit, your name was on that list too, but I let you go—”

“What…? Wow, how kind of you…and this is what you want?”

“Of course it’s not! Can’t you see I’m just using them? I don’t give a shit about being a part of any organization or taking orders. Why else would I help you so many times when I could’ve easily subdued you and taken you back to the League?” Shoto was quiet. “Even that time, who do you think let the heroes follow him to the hideout?”

The dual haired blinked. “Using them for what?”

“That…I just thought they would have useful resources and kill my boredom…but this was never meant to involve you.”

“I’m part of the heroes, the League is evil, how would it not involve me?” Shoto’s tone was calmer but he was still blunt.

“Fine…that’s on me, but how was I supposed to…” Dabi trailed off.

“Supposed to what?”

The elder straightened his body but refrained from eye contact. “How was I supposed to know I’d meet you.” Shoto was silent again. He knew what the elder meant. Neither of them predicted to be this involved with each other.

“Then…now what?” Shoto was back to being reasonable again.

“I don’t know. What do you want me to do?”

“Leave the League. It’s not too late to turn back.”

Dabi scoffed a laugh. “It might be a little too late for that though, they’ve probably already know my face now.”

The dual haired frowned. He didn’t like this sticky situation. “I have to go.” Ultimately, Shoto decided. This time however, Dabi released his arm and let him walk away. Even after the younger left, Dabi’s hand lingered in the air, finger’s twitching once as his expression grew darker. The ravenette kicked the wall besides him.

“Fxck!” He was furious at the fact he couldn’t patch things up with the teen. ‘Dammit, he fxcked up.’ He’d never been one to care for other’s feelings but if he knew it’d frustrate him this much, he would’ve been more careful.   

The next night Dabi couldn’t sleep. He tossed around and his leg wouldn’t stop shaking out of impatience. He lay there for a moment longer before reaching for his phone and dialing Shoto. It rang and rang but no response. As expected.

“Che. Don’t do this.” Dabi tried again, and again and again. Negatory. ‘Is he asleep?’ The villain considered, which was quite possible. The elder teen glanced at his phone clock one more time before spontaneously deciding to hop off. Dabi was never one to have too much patience. He pulled his boots on and light hoodie. The time was 11 P.M.

In no time, the ravenette was right outside Shoto’s home. Wasn’t he glad that he secretly stalked the teen one time? Regardless of that, he stood outside in the chilly night breeze for a long while, almost looking like a statue in front of their house.

‘Why was he doing this? Who cared if the teen was angry with him? It was fun messing around with the unhinged student but if it was time to move on, then so be it. He could always look for a new playmate…’ Or so his brain would think. However, Dabi’s internal emotions had a hard time simply turning the other cheek and accepting that reality. ‘What made Shoto so special? Was it his purity? Innocence? Righteousness? Or his ability to treat Dabi with a certain level of care and respect that he didn’t get from other strangers?’

These were all automatic questions that rolled off his mind and seemed more clustered than the stars in the sky. ‘Well, those will have to wait, lets go knock on his door right now.’ Dabi shook his thoughts away and rounded the house to a bedroom window. The elder teen was wondering how he’d deduce which window was Shoto’s but once he saw it, he couldn’t miss it.

There was a window decorated with all too familiar deep blue roses. “That’s the one.” The villain smiled, unknown warmth spreading in his chest when he saw the roses. The gift he had given. Without further contemplation, he began climbing up the fence, but nearly tripped when he heard a shout and punch. It rushed him towards the sound and he began climbing up to the second floor window.   

“You’re growing soft! You should’ve dodged that! We’ll end it here. Disgraceful.” Enji’s loud voice echoed through the halls.

“You never get tired of saying the same thing.” Shoto audibly mumbled as his steps were heard nearing his room. His bedroom door was open so Dabi caught glimpse of the scene down the hall. The dual haired ignored his father and about-turned.

“Who do you think you’re talking to?!” Endeavor grabbed a fistful of his clothes and turned him around.

That rough gesture made Dabi’s blood boil when he witnessed it. His expression darkened under the black face mask and his turquoise eyes turned steel cold as they watched unblinking.

“Do you think power is everything?" Shoto calmly challenged. He was tired of this constant dynamic of theirs and it didn’t seem like anything was changing.

“Shoto—!” His father was furious at the tone and raised his hand again.

“So, this is the almighty number two hero behind closed doors?” A new voice interjected. Both Shoto and Enji turned to a new dark figure, fully covered up and unrecognizable.

“Who the hell are you?!”  Enji exclaimed.  While so, Shoto stared at the elder teen with shocking disbelieving eyes. He had recognized the voice and figure instantly. The unruly wavy hair, the piercing turquoise eyes and deep voice all gave it away.

“Get your hands off of him, unless you want this to be tomorrow’s headlines.” Dabi said a little more seriously, really not a fan of the teen being manhandled by someone else.  

“You have time to call friends over, but can’t take training seriously?” Enji scolded the teen one more time before releasing him. “And you, it’s getting quite late, I wouldn’t recommend staying too long.” The redhead told off in his adult tone but his aura was as hostile as ever.

Dabi scoffed, amused at his ego but before he could observe for longer a hand yanked him towards the bedroom. “What are you doing here?!” Shoto hissed as loud as he could right after the door shut.

“Someone wasn’t picking up my calls.” The ravenette went back to acting like his nonchalant self.

“Yeah, for good reason. I thought you’d get that memo.”

“No such thing.”

“But are you absolutely nuts? How are you even in my house right now—no, you’re literally standing in the one of the most known hero’s house right now as a criminal—do you want to be arrested??” Dabi didn’t answer him instantly, but gave Shoto an all-knowing smile. “What?” The dual haired frowned.

“So, you do care.” Was the only part that was keeping the elder teen smiling.

The younger felt like facepalming. “Why is that what you would take away?”

Dabi shrugged. “Beats me. So why play hard to get?”

“What are you even talking about? I’m not playing anything.”

“No, but you worry about me, you didn’t expose me just now, yet you still wanna ignore me. Are you still mad at me? Is that why?” Dabi tilted his head in Shoto’s direction when the teen crossed his arms and averted his body.

“Is that any surprise?”

“… why does it matter?”

“Excuse me?” The younger swung his head towards the other, offended.

“I don’t get it, why should it matter to me if you’re pissed at me. That doesn’t sound like my problem. But it is…”

There was a brief confusing pause after that.

“What do you want me to do then? Quit the League? Is that what you said?” The elder asked.

“What?”

“What do I need to do to get you to forgive me? Hm?” the villain mouthed again more solemnly.

Shoto didn’t have an answer right away. Frankly, he wasn’t even expecting this much compliance from the other so he was rather speechless. “How do I know if you’re sincere—”

“What the fxck is that?” The dual haired was startled by Dabi’s sudden outburst. Before he could mouth a query, the ravenette palmed his cheek to see a red mark forming. “Did he do this?”

It took Shoto a second to catch on but when he did, he simply brushed the hand off. “Don’t change the subject.”

“No. Answer me.”

“We were training, yes.”

“Are you sure, ‘cause that’s not what I heard—”

“Look this is irrelevant right now, we were talking about you.”

“Fxcking annoying asses. No wonder I always hated some of these heroes and their pretentious righteousness. Yet, this is what they’re doing behind closed doors.” Dabi just went on his own rant. Shoto’s shoulders slumped over the fact that he wasn’t listening again but at the same time he was mildly touched by the other getting so angry on his behalf.

Chapter Text

"Hey, you okay? Look at me." Dabi asked again when Shoto turned to the bed.

"I'm fine. This is nothing out of the ordinary. What about you? Are you going to change your plans?" Shoto was facing the ground with a neutral expression.

Dabi sighed. "The league huh?" He was silent for a moment longer. "Okay fine, fine, I'll think about it. No promises, but I'll get back to you—happy? Not like I was getting much from them anyways—been more of a hassle than anything."

"Then why join?"

"Like I said, it was out of curiosity and some boredom. I didn't think Shigaraki was gonna turn out to be such a lunatic."

"I don't get you at all." Shoto frowned.

"So, we talkin' again?" The ravenette dared to came closer and sat on the bed besides him as well. The younger sulked while Dabi slowly traced his fingers up Shoto's wrists. The more Shoto resisted, the more Dabi was pulled towards him. "That was mean though. I got ignored so mercilessly." He played the victim for fun, knowing full well that Shoto would feel guilty.

"…was it that bad…?"

"I was so hurt."

"okay…sorry…?" The dual haired mumbled.

"Mh…I don't think sorry is enough…I couldn't even sleep and here I am." Dabi feigned and Shoto was amazed to hear that.

"Shoto?" Fuyumi knocked on their door, snapping both of them apart. "Oh, I didn't know you had a guest. Hello. I heard the commotion, just wanted to check up."

"Fuyumi. Uh, yea, it's okay. Um, this is an upperclassman." He introduced to Fuyumi and then vice versa. "This is my older sister."

"A pleasure."

"Hi, how's it going? You look a little familiar though?" Fuyumi pondered.

"I took part in the tournament, maybe that's where. Don't think too hard."

"Haha, maybe so." She chuckled at his charm.

"Did you just come home?" Shoto asked.

"Yeah, not too long ago. Natsuo called saying he won't be coming home this weekend."

"I see."

"I'll get you guys some tea?" Fuyumi offered.

"No, don't bother sis, I'm not staying for long. I was just on my way out anyhow."

"Are you sure?" Fuyumi asked.

"Affirmative." Dabi smirked and the sister left.

"How did you even get here?" The younger teen asked once his sister was gone.

"You didn't pick up my calls, I thought I'd stop by throw some pebbles, you know, but then I heard the commotion. And thanks to those flowers, it wasn't easy to tell which room was yours."

Shoto fought a slight shade of blush and embarrassment that creeped onto his face. Dabi noticed that and snickered at him. Shoto surrendered at the other's eccentricity. He shook his head and looked back into slivering turquoise eyes. The ravenette stared back, and the two simply looked into each other eyes for the longest time.

That is, until Dabi swallowed hard and connected their lips to Shoto's surprise. "What?" The teen gawked, backing away instantly with a flustered face.

"Don't blame me, I couldn't help it, you were looking at me with such passion. That's dangerous, you that? You were practically begging for it."

"What are you even talking about—you make no s-sense sometimes—"

"Come on…," Dabi edged closer, snaking an arm around his waist to pull him closer. "You're driving me crazy…" He dug his nose into the other's neck.

"I should be saying that..." Shoto squirmed. "Ugh, leave…"

Dabi laughed at his behavior. "Cute. Okay, I'll let you have your way this time." He quickly stole another kiss on the cheek before hopping up and making his way to the window. "I'll see you around then. No more ignoring, or this time I'm kidnapping you~" He jumped out.

"You're crazy." Shoto held his cheek, face still burning and heart missing a beat. But one thing was for sure. Shoto didn't hate any of Dabi's advances. If anything, it left him wanting more.

'He likes me. No, he's probably playing around with me. This is Dabi we're talking about.' Shoto went back and forth in his mind. 'Ugh.' He surrendered.

'Open up. Share your emotions.' The advice from multiple people circled in his head. Shoto stopped in his tracks briefly. It was the weekend and he was running an errand to the convenience store. 'Should he?'

A part of him was willing to give in to Dabi's assertions and his own emotions.

"Hey Todoroki-kun!" The dual haired teen turned to find one of his classmates, Jiro.

"Oh hey."

"Didn't expect to run into you here."

"I just randomly decided to get something. Needed some fresh air as well." Shoto averted his eyes.

"That's nice. I was just picking up some snacks for the festival." She spoke while she picked up a bottle.

"Festival?"

"Yea, you didn't know? It's taking place tomorrow evening, just a seasonal thing. You want to join us?"

"Oh, uh, that's okay, I'll pass. I'm not a crowd person, really."

Jiro shrugged. "Alright, if you say so. Catch you later in school."

"Yeah, bye." Shoto waved back.

On his way back, his phone buzzed, alerting him of a message from Dabi.

D: Whatchu upto tomorrow?

Shoto thought for a second before replying.

S: Nothing. Why?

D: you wanna get out of the house for a bit?

S: and do what?

D: there's this festival going on. Heard it has good food and maybe some activities?

'The festival…' Shoto thought, he didn't know Dabi was up for that kinda stuff. Or maybe he was bored as well. 'I guess I could give it a try…? I can always come back early if anything.'

S: sure, I guess I can give it a try.

D: ai, sounds good~ ill pick you up.

'Pick me up?' Shoto felt catered to and flattered at the same time.

The evening of, Shoto made sure to dress nicely yet equally casually.

"You're heading out? Hanging out? That's new." Fuyumi noticed him at the door from her place in the living room.

"Yea…something like that, just for today." Shoto vaguely answered.

"Is it with the same guy from before?"

"What—how did you—?"

"Oh, so I was right haha. You seem interested in him, or is that just me?"

"I'm not." The younger lied through his teeth, sounding a little offended. Suddenly, as if on cue, an engine roared and a honk came from outside. Shoto's phone buzzed two seconds after and he looked down to check.

D: come outside

"I have to go. I'll text you later." The dual haired dashed to the door.

"Have fun!"

Shoto locked the door behind him and saw a sudan waiting out his door. "Yo~ get in, princess." Dabi smirked from the driver's seat and unlocked the door for him. The younger hopped in and fastened his seatbelt.

"Is this okay?" He asked.

"Don't worry, I got a mask to stay undercover." Dabi grinned and pulled at the mask that was pulled down to his chin.

'Yeah, I guess it should be fine.' Shoto concluded. He studied Dabi who wore a double layered navy and black T-shirt with a silver chain and black jeans. It was simple but suited his punkish vibe.

"Like what you see?" Dabi was driving but he could see Shoto staring at him from his peripheral. The teen instantly turned his head away in embarrassment and cleared his throat. The elder only laughed. He was having fun already.

"I didn't know you had a car?" Shoto changed the subject after a moment of silence.

"Just got it recently. Been on my mind for a bit. Anyways, we're here." Dabi pulled into a parking spot on the curb.

They entered the streets that were lined with food stalls and started an order with the first one they saw. They were selling lamb kebabs on a stick, so Dabi ordered one each. Blame his nerves and lack of thinking, he bit into one of the kebabs without realizing how hot it was. He winced awkwardly.

"Watch it, it's hot." Dabi scoffed harmlessly, but only embarrassing him further.

"I don't usually eat a lot of hot stuff…"

"I can tell. You like sugar then?"

"Uh, sure?"

"Haha, what the? You didn't sound so sure to me. Let's get something sweet after this, who doesn't like sugar?" Dabi put an arm over the teen and led him to the other food stalls. In the midst of them eating, mingling, checking out products, a blast in the air startled the younger teen. Swiftly turning his head around, he found flashing lights in the sky.

"Fireworks…" Shoto knew it was a small festival, but he wasn't expecting that. The teen couldn't look away, he had forgotten the last time he saw them and how mesmerizing they looked. While Shoto watched the shower of lights in the night sky, Dabi awed at the younger's innocent hypnotized expression. It wasn't until long after that the younger noticed Dabi staring at him intently.

"What is it?" The dual haired asked when he noticed.

"Come with me." Dabi urgently told and grabbed his wrist.

"What the—" However, Shoto was dragged along anyway and behind one of the buildings. His bulged when Dabi held the side of his face and kissed his lips. He inhaled sharply and clutched at the elder's clothing. "What are you—"

"I can't hold myself back—not when you look like that—why? You hate it." Dabi was still inches away from him, cool breath against his cheeks. Shoto swallowed hard, he didn't know how to answer and Dabi saw the mixed feelings on his face. "let's get out of here." He pushed.

"W-where…"

"My place."

'Dabi's place?' Shoto was mildly curious. The next couple of scenes just played out all of their own and the younger felt like he was in a dream he couldn't stop. He didn't hate it, but he couldn't stop to process it either. One moment they were driving back, Dabi rushing them into the apartment, the next moment they were passionately kissing, he could remember how much he was struggling to get some oxygen into his system.

"You drive me crazy." Dabi mouthed in between panting. Surprisingly, the ravenette really couldn't control himself when it came to the younger. Shoto knew he should stop them, take it slow, he didn't even know where this was all going but he couldn't bring himself to break the flow either. One thing led to another and he found his back against a soft messy mattress in the dark, kissing, getting kissed and clothes flying off.

The teen couldn't think straight, he knew he had to text Fuyumi, he had no idea how late it was but all those thoughts would get diverted faster than they came. Dabi kept his mind very occupied…

The next morning Shoto woke up naked and groggy, there was a slither of bright light making its way through the dark curtains but it was enough for him to turn his face away into the pillow.

"How long do you plan on sleeping princess?"

That remark sobered him up instantaneously as the teen arched upward and found Dabi leaning by the door frame with a mug, half naked with pants on only.

"D-Dabi…" Shoto stammered. That's when he realized he was butt naked under the covers. The teen awkwardly sat up, wrapping the sheets around him, holding them from the front. He was at a loss for words when the events from last night.

Dabi smirked. "You were so loveable last night—never expected that." Shoto wanted to hide as Dabi walked over and sat down beside him. "You're so sexy."

"Okay okay, I get it." The dual haired blushed and the elder only laughed. In the midst of their little moment, Shoto recalled something. "wait you're hair down there…"

"What about it?"

"I'm pretty sure they were red…"

"Oh yeah, my hair is actually red." Dabi casually answered. Shoto stared with the utmost curiosity as if he was trying to picture that on the elder.

"Do you…have any pictures?" The younger asked and Dabi couldn't deny that face.

He furrowed his brows in deep thought. "I might have something from high school…my old man probably has more though—lemme check." Dabi disappeared and came back moments later with a dusty frame. "Here's one."

"You dyed your hair after high school?"

"In senior year." The ravenette replied.

Shoto took the picture and studied it amazed. He actually didn't look bad at all. If anything the dark red hair looked very cool in it's own way. Dabi was grinning in the picture and had his arm over another older man's shoulders. "What a coincident, your red hair…it's the exact same shade as mine…" It was almost as if they could be siblings in another universe. Like they were destined to meet.

"Are you gonna say its destiny?" Dabi mocked. "Maybe it is. Who knows."

"No but really—take a look." Shoto placed the frame parallel to his head. "We could've been brothers."

Dabi snaked an arm around him, not taking him seriously and nuzzled behind his ear. "Now , now we crossed some fine lines back there, you wouldn't want to be brothers with me."

"I know! I was just saying—!" Shoto brushed him off and looked back at the photo. "Speaking of brothers, we also have the same eyes…"

"You're obsessed."

"I don't mean to say we are—that's clearly impossible, but don't you think so?"

To humor him, Dabi peeked over and then looked back up at Shoto's turquoise eye. Okay, so yea, they looked the same but so what? Turquoise eyes weren't a rarity. Dabi thought.

"Yeah okay, but that changes nothing."

"I know. Anyway, um, is it okay...if I take a picture of this?" Shoto made an unusual request.

"Pfftt—if you wanted a picture of me so bad, why didn't you say so? C'mere." Dabi grabbed his phone and pulled the teen close to his care upper body, capturing a high angle selfie.

"What—not like this!" Shoto was hardly dressed enough for the occasion.

"Smile Shoto~" Dabi smirked. "Cute, I might get used to this. I'll send this to you." He winked.

"Ugh, please don't. And please don't show it to anyone." Shoto facepalmed. "Better yet, delete it. If my father ever saw that…" His expression suddenly became fearful as he imagined the possibilities of the photo leaking or being sent to the wrong person.

"Don't worry." Dabi noticed that and his tone became more serious. "I won't show it to anyone, I'll just keep it in my phone. We can always take other pictures to commemorate this relationship, later."

Shoto nodded. "So, what is this now? You said relationship…"

"Mh~" Dabi hummed. "What, indeed?" He tossed the phone aside and pillared one hand on each side of the teen. "What would you call it, honor student?"

"…how would I know?"

"Boyfriends? Lovers? Sex friends? Choose your pick."

Before Shoto picked anything, he turned it back around. "How do you feel about this?"

"Smart. I'd pick all three, preferably the first two." Dabi honestly answered with a wide grin, inching closer to him so their noses were almost brushing against each other. "What about you?" Dabi was teasing him with his lips.

"Me too…" the younger quietly agreed and earned a kiss from the other.

"So, are we gonna eat or should we just feast here?" Dabi nibbled his lower lip.

"Let's eat." Shoto answered without question. If he didn't stop, they would be having a repeat of last night and he didn't know if his heart or body could handle that at the moment. "Where are my clothes?"

"Haha fine, lets go, I'll get you your clothes."

"And my phone—" 'Oh crap! He didn't text Fuyumi or anyone!'

"Don't worry I texted your sister for you." Dabi read his mind once again through his semi-panicked expression.

"Oh, thank God. Thank you."

"Don't mention it~ Anyways, go take a shower and meet me in the kitchen." Dabi instructed, while handing him his clothes. 

Also a little something as an apology: