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In a dirty alley on the wrong side of town, Shouto was bouncing on the balls of his feet in anticipation as the number two hero went over the plan with him for what felt like the thousandth time.
“Remember, you don’t use your quirk unless necessary. If he’s hostile, you run immediately, and I’ll take care of him” Hawks said, before running a gloved hand through his hair. “God, I shouldn’t be bringing you in the first place-”
“No,” Shouto interrupted, trying to sound like he was less affected than he was. “I need to be here. Even if not for myself, out of my siblings I’m the only one that can be here.”
Hawks studied him for the last time before giving a resigned nod. “Fine.”
Shouto followed Hawks out of the alley and onto the moonlit street moving as stealthily as possible, hurrying down only a couple of blocks before reaching their destination - a rundown, crumbling apartment building with boarded-up windows. Hawks sent a few feathers in to scope out their path. Once he gave the all-clear, he beckoned Shouto inside and up three flights of a rickety wooden staircase, until they made it to a nondescript door.
It was time.
Hawks knocked on the door and a grouchy voice yelled out “who is it?”
“Your favourite bird!” Hawks responded, and footsteps approached from within the apartment. Several locks clicked and the door creaked open to reveal the villain Dabi.
Who made eye contact with Shouto, and immediately tried to slam the door shut again.
Shouto blocked it with a foot as Dabi started yelling.
“What the hell, Hawks? Why did you bring him here?” Dabi retreated into a corner of his apartment, looking like he was considering escaping through the window.
Hawks pushed his way into the apartment, Shouto limping after him - Dabi had slammed the door really hard.
“Thought you might like a blast from the past, Dabi,” Hawks said.
“And what makes you think I’d want to be reminded of a mission that went south,” Dabi sneered. “I knew you were a traitor, Hawks. Don’t see why you needed to bring one of those UA brats with you to arrest me, though. Aren’t you supposed to be the number two hero?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know what this is about, Dabi,” Hawks said. “I’m completely loyal to the League. Shouto here gets it - for the same reason as you.”
Shouto moved towards the villain at Hawks’ prompt. “I can’t say I agree with your methods,” he started, “but when Hawks contacted us it almost made too much sense. Fuyumi didn’t want to believe it, but you know how Natsuo is. He’s almost as angry as you always were, Touya. And I...really can’t hold it against you that you never told us you were alive. You did what you had to do.”
A tense silence fell over the room as the hero-in-training and the seasoned villain stared at each other. Dabi finally emerged from the corner, and as he moved out of the shadows Shouto noticed how his eyes perfectly matched Shouto’s own left eye... the eyes they’d inherited from their father.
“Who’s Touya?” Dabi asked.
Shouto didn’t know what response he’d been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t that one.
“I’m not a kid anymore, Touya. Don’t treat me like one,” Shouto warned.
“Oh, believe me, I know what UA students are capable of. I watch the Sports Festival,” Dabi said. “But I genuinely don’t know what you mean. Why are you calling me Touya?”
Hawks finally stepped in. “Because that’s your name. Your birth name, at least. Todoroki Touya.”
“Really? Someone should tell my parents. They’ll be pissed to know the birth certificate was wrong this whole time,” Dabi responded.
Shouto suddenly felt uneasy. Something was really wrong.
“I’ve been investigating this for months, Dabi. Your quirk. Your scars. The timing of your arrival on the streets. The fact that you’re the only member of the League whose name the heroes haven’t been able to find out yet. Your seemingly personal grudge against Endeavor. It all adds up to you being the not-so-late Todoroki Touya.” Hawks reached towards Dabi. “Maybe someone’s messed with your memory or something…”
“No one’s messed with my anything - get away from me!” Dabi grabbed Hawks’ arm. “I don’t know what sort of insane puzzle you’ve been putting together, birdie, but you’ve got it wrong. I’m not...wait, Todoroki Touya? Isn’t that Endeavor’s name?” He turned to look at Shouto. “Do you think I’m your brother?”
“...yes?”
Dabi looked almost sympathetic, finally releasing Hawks, who looked utterly confused. “So you, the son of the number one hero, thought that I was your brother who had run away and become a villain...and you said you understand?”
“...yes?”
Dabi threw his head back and laughed for far too long. His laughter turned almost hysterical as Hawks and Shouto stood and watched, frozen in shock.
“I can’t believe this!” Dabi choked out. “You - the number one hero’s son - thought that...I tried to kill him! On live TV! You saw that, thinking I was your brother and were just like - what, fair enough? What sort of shit has dear old Endeavor been getting up to behind the scenes?”
“But - you have the same quirk as Touya did!” Shouto finally managed to force out.
“Kid, do you know how many people have fire quirks? They’re a dime a dozen.”
“Your scars!”
“Not all of us get fancy hero training! I’ve had some accidents here or there, and we could never afford a hospital. What, did Endeavor burn your brother? This is getting juicier and juicier...”
“Your real name! What’s your real name?”
“Just because I’m better at covering my tracks than those other idiots doesn’t make me the son of the number one hero. And I’m still not telling you that.”
“Then why are you a villain at all!? Why do you hate Endeavor so much!? Why did you shout my name at the training camp?”
Dabi walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Shouto should have thrown him off, but he still couldn’t let go of that one last spark of hope that this was his big brother.
“I’m just a bit of an asshole, kid.”
Shouto couldn’t move as Dabi threw himself down on a tattered sofa, clearly no longer intimidated by the duo. “Honestly, I am just a massive douchebag. I’m self-aware enough to admit it. Got a flair for the dramatic, too. So once we made the plans to attack the training camp I went over the sports festival footage and learned the names of all the brats in your year, just in case. Taunting someone using their full name just adds that extra kick, you know? And of course, I’ve done the same for all the pro heroes I might encounter too. It’s pretty effective, isn’t it, Takami Keigo?”
Hawks flinched, proving Dabi’s point. Shouto hadn’t even known Hawks’ name, didn’t think it was even publicly available knowledge - the villain had done his research.
“Well, fuck,” announced Hawks. “Sorry about this, Todoroki-kun. I really didn’t get in touch until I thought I was sure, but it looks like I was wrong. We’d better get out of here.” Hawks turned to Shouto and winked - he definitely still had something up his sleeve.
“Sorry about your brother and your shitty dad, kid,” Dabi called from the sofa, as Hawks grabbed Shouto’s arm and pulled him out of the apartment.
“So you didn’t appreciate the impromptu family reunion. Sorry about that. You can tell me the truth, though,” Keigo said in lieu of a greeting as he climbed through Dabi’s window half an hour later. He had built up a rapport with the villain over the course of his infiltration and was sure Dabi would tell him the truth when he was alone, and had told Shouto as much.
“What are you doing back here, Hawks?” Dabi seemed exasperated.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have brought him. I’m sorry. But I thought you’d want to see for yourself that your family don’t care about the whole villain thing,” Keigo said. “Can you just tell me? If you didn’t want to say it in front of him, fine. I won’t tell him. I won’t tell anyone. Just be honest with me. Are you Todoroki Touya?”
Dabi huffed and sat down. “I need a cigarette.”
Keigo’s eyes widened. “So you are? Because you know this could take Endeavor down, right? Ever since I’ve been working with the Todorokis on this case we’ve been trying to find the right angle to completely destroy his public image, and this could absolutely do it. I’ll keep your secret if you want me to, but this could help your siblings. It could strip Endeavor of all the power he doesn’t deserve.”
“You want me to be honest with you?” Dabi sighed.
“Yes. Please, yes.”
“The truth is…”
Keigo leaned in.
“Well, the truth is…”
His feathers rustled in anticipation.
“The truth is no, I’m not Todoroki fucking Touya! I have parents, and they’re not abusive shitheads, and my dad’s certainly not the number one hero. My mum’s stuck in prison because some no-name hero saw that she had a fire quirk and assumed she was responsible for a bunch of arsons around my area when I was a kid. That’s why I’m a villain. The system fucking stinks,” Dabi finished.
Keigo shook his head and made his way back towards the window. “Fine. If you’re not going to tell me the truth, Dabi it is, then.”
“I am telling you the truth, birdie.”
“Are you?”
“Yes!” Dabi insisted. “Well. Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
Dabi snickered, clearly enjoying messing with Keigo at this point. “Maybe I am poor little Todoroki Touya, so badly abused by my heroic father that I ran off to become a villain and swore to kill him. Or maybe I’m just some other guy with a similar quirk who has his own reasons for doing things. You’ll never know.”
Keigo stalked towards the window. “I’m done with this. I don’t care who you are anymore. I’m still going to help the Todorokis take their father down - sucks that their brother’s either dead or a cowardly liar - but we don’t need your help. ”
“No, wait Hawks.” Keigo stopped. “I’ll stop messing around. I’m not telling you who I really am, but I’m not Todoroki Touya.”
Sat on the windowsill, Keigo turned to look into Dabi’s eyes. They really did look just like Endeavor’s...but plenty of people had blue eyes. “Fine. I’ll admit it. I was wrong” Keigo slid one leg out of the window, preparing to take off.
“Unless…”