Chapter Text
Dabi lazed on a couch at their new hideout: a rough-looking apartment that the mysterious boss-on-the-monitor had given them. The other members of the League were just as bored as Dabi was—save for Shigaraki, who kept watching the Bakugo-Todoroki match of the Sports Festival over and over.
They'd tried kidnapping Bakugo Katsuki because of that footage.
The kid hadn't wanted to join them after all.
End of story.
Except Shigaraki had become obsessed with figuring out what went wrong. To the point where there hadn't been any real plans for the League since then.
Dabi glanced toward the TV for a moment—
Wait. That wasn't the final match.
"Have you finally accepted your purpose?"
"—finally accepted your purpose?"
"Have you finally accepted—?"
Under the light of the TV, Shigaraki's face split into an ugly grin. "Looks like the little Todoroki has daddy issues."
Dabi couldn't help muttering, "With Endeavor as a parent, who wouldn't?"
Shigaraki turned away from the screen, raising his voice to speak to the whole room. "Don't you see? We kidnapped the wrong one!"
It had been over two weeks and there still wasn't any action for the League.
Shigaraki seemed to be planning something big, all while gathering forces and waiting for the right time to strike. The core members all recognized he was getting fidgety, however. The mysterious 'master' Dabi had yet to meet in person was apparently having a harder time learning of UA's schedule now, and it was obvious that Shigaraki was determined to have a second try at recruiting a UA student.
So everyone felt like they were holding their breath, just waiting.
The tides were changing for the better, however. Their previous attack had been a success even with Bakugo's refusal and quick escape. Would've been nice if the kidnapping had lasted long enough to be bigger news—and the loss of the Nomu factory was a setback—but their attack on the students was enough. The public was starting to see just how lacking hero society was.
Dabi was currently on the street for a simple errand—which was a little harder now that his face had been on the news—when he turned a corner, and came face-to-face with Shouto Todoroki. Just like that.
Dabi's first instinct was to hit him with a blast of fire. He was Endeavor's son, after all. But then Dabi remembered that Shigaraki wanted him, and redirected the burst of blue flame as best he could.
Todoroki also seemed reluctant to attack, though his fighting pose promised he wouldn't go down easily.
So, what should be Dabi's plan of action? Shigaraki wanted to try turning the little Todoroki. And Dabi might not like the stuck up mini-Endeavor, but if they could turn the boy to their side, Dabi would love to see Endeavor's face when he realized his own son had become a villain.
The problem, however, was that Shouto Todoroki's capture was still a vague, future event. And even if Dabi pushed up the timeline, he had no way of capturing the teen. Dabi was by himself. There was no Mr. Compress or Kurogiri to make transportation easier. What was Dabi to do, knock the kid out and drag him all the way back to the hideout? Threaten him into coming with Dabi? Todoroki wouldn't be too eager to hear out the League after that.
The Bakugo kid hadn't seemed too happy about the whole kidnapping thing even with the easy transport. Although, to be fair, part of that was probably just the brat's sparkling personality.
The point was, Dabi couldn't just kidnap the little Todoroki. He had to do something else. Maybe plant the idea that the League of Villains wasn't so bad. That they had similar goals. Then, when Shigaraki had a plan in place, it would be more likely to turn out in their favor.
Maybe he could use some of what Shigaraki had deduced from the Sports Festival footage.
Shouto walked down the street toward a particular hospital.
It was the weekend, and though the new UA dorms were supposed to safeguard the students, they weren't meant to be a prison. Shouto was allowed to visit his mother. It would be a short visit, and he had his cell phone in case of an emergency.
The hospital was only a little farther, and Shouto let a subtle smile come to his lips at the thought of seeing her in only a few more minutes.
Then he turned a corner, and a member of the League of Villains was right in front of him.
He instantly got into a defensive stance, but hoped he wouldn't have to use his ice—hoped he wouldn't have to injure a villain again without a provisional license.
An armful of blue fire was thrown at him, too much to completely dodge. His eyes widened as he leapt to the side, his skin instinctively beginning to frost.
But then the villain pulled back. Shouto was sure of it.
Shouto landed safely on his feet, pivoting back toward the villain.
The flames left a blackened mark on the side of the alley he'd ended up in, and Shouto glanced between the mark and Dabi's slightly smoking arm. The attack had gone wide. Even if Shouto hadn't moved, it would've only grazed him.
Dabi muttered a curse, then said, "I'm not here to hurt you. This isn't a League attack."
"This isn't an attack," Shouto repeated, deadpan with disbelief.
"It's not," Dabi confirmed.
Neither of them moved for a moment.
Shouto glanced quickly to the left and right, checking for any sign of the other villains, but not wanting Dabi out of his sight.
"Then why are you here?" Shouto asked. He should stall for time, see if he could find an opening to run and then call for help.
"Can't a guy go for a walk?" Dabi relaxed his posture and put his hands in his pockets—a lack of concern or an attempt at making Shouto lower his guard? "Us villains have lives outside of the League, too, you know."
Shouto supposed that must've been true, theoretically, but kept up his defensive pose.
Why would Dabi just coincidentally be walking by his mother's hospital?
Dabi lifted an eyebrow, seeming to focus on Shouto's raised right hand. "Are you still rejecting your fire, little Todoroki?"
What?
Dabi's eyes seemed to light up, a hint of a smirk coming to his face.
Shouto narrowed his eyes. How did Dabi know so much about him? He remembered the villain saying his name back at the training camp. Now he somehow knew how his quirk worked, and that he hadn't liked his fire?
The smirk grew into a grin. "I know why you don't like your left side, Shouto Todoroki... It's because it reminds you of him, isn't it? You hate Endeavor as much as I do. You know hero society is flawed."
Shouto searched Dabi's smug expression. How did he...?
But no. His father didn't matter anymore. Shouto accepted his quirk as a whole now. Endeavor didn't matter. But only a handful of people knew Shouto had ever felt such a way.
And then there was Dabi, coming from the direction of his mother's hospital—mentioning a life outside of the League.
Dabi, who somehow knew about his quirk, knew the meaning behind his reluctance to use his left side, knew about his father.
Dabi, who had a fire quirk. And blue eyes.
He stared at the villain for a long moment.
"Are you a Todoroki?"
Dabi jerked back in shock. "What?" His mouth opened and closed a few times, before spitefully saying, "No, I'm not a Todoroki!"
He'd hesitated. That meant it was true, right?
Dabi shut the apartment door—perhaps slightly harder than normal. He was still tense from the accusation, unable to loosen up his muscles. The best he could do was force a bored expression onto his face.
Of course the others would see through it.
Twice and Toga both looked up at the sound of the door.
"What happened?" Twice asked, then waved an arm in angry dismissal. "Who cares!?"
"I ran into Shigaraki's new pet project—he asked if I was a Todoroki."
No one said anything for several seconds. Twice and Toga staring at him from the couch as he stared back, trying to communicate everything through his gaze.
"...Are you?" Toga eventually asked.
"No!" Dabi threw his hands up and walked out of the room.
Through the thin walls, he could hear them begin to call out belated questions about the meeting.
Shouto started a list.
If he was going to prove Dabi was his brother, he needed to do it right.
Touya Todoroki—the eldest and only missing Todoroki sibling—was legally dead.
Dabi was the only League of Villains member Shouto knew of who didn't have a name or history.
Touya would have been twenty four years old.
Dabi was most likely in his twenties.
Shouto didn't remember much about Touya, but he did know he'd had their father's red hair and light blue eyes.
Dabi's chilling blue eyes stood out startlingly well against the dark colors of his hair and outfit. In fact, that combination of black hair and blue eyes seemed almost unnatural somehow. There was a chance Dabi was dying his hair.—Touya probably would.
Touya had a weak composition. Shouto never knew exactly what his father had meant by that, but he could guess. His father had wanted a child that could regulate their body temperature. Touya didn't have an ice quirk, and his flames were hotter than their father's. Touya probably had trouble withstanding his own fire.
Dabi's fire burned blue and felt hotter than Shouto's own. Dabi was covered in bad burns, and Shouto had noticed his arm smoking after the instinctive attack in the alley.
Touya had experienced their father's harsh training, and knew just how far their father had pushed their mother. He would hate Endeavor as much as any of them. He would also know how Shouto's quirk worked.
Dabi seemed to have a personal grudge against Endeavor. He also seemed to know what Shouto's father was like behind closed doors, and knew some of the intricacies of Shouto's quirk. These things were the most telling, since Dabi shouldn't know that. The only person Shouto had ever spoken to was Midoriya, and he couldn't imagine Fuyumi or Natsuo telling just anyone. And how many people outside of class 1-A would have seen Shouto in action enough to learn how his quirk worked?
Touya was family.
Dabi hadn't wanted to hurt Shouto.
Shouto put his pen down, and looked back over the list. It seemed pretty obvious, didn't it? Dabi was Touya Todoroki. He looked like him, had the same quirk as him, knew things only he should know—and there was no evidence to the contrary.
"Hello?" came Fuyumi's voice over the phone.
"I think I found Touya."
"Shouto..." She hesitated, her voice filled with concern. "Touya died almost ten years ago. Are you okay? What is this about?"
Shouto sighed. He was only scaring her, wasn't he? Maybe he shouldn't be re-opening old wounds. But if Touya really was alive, then he knew she would want to know. "Fuyumi, I know this is a lot to take in, but I don't think Touya died. There's this... person—with a fire quirk. He's Touya's age, and knows things about our family. I think it's him."
"...Did this person claim to be Touya?"
"Well, no, but he didn't give me a real name, and—"
"Okay. Good. That's good. But let me stop you right now. I know you were young at the time... but we went to Touya's funeral. His grave is at the cemetery."
"It wasn't a traditional funeral. He might have faked his death, changed his name. Maybe Father was in on it. It would have been bad publicity if it got out that one of us had run away from home. Maybe he'd lied to keep us from searching for Touya."
"Shouto." Her voice was firm, yet gentle. "Just breathe for a minute. You need to step back and think about this rationally. Yes, having one of us run away from home wouldn't have looked good, but neither was having one of us die. Especially since Dad refused to give details to the public. And, remember, there are a lot of people with fire quirks."
"But his flames are hot—really hot. They're even blue." Shouto knew there was a desperate tone leaking into his voice, but he couldn't stop it.
"Touya's flames weren't blue," she said in confusion.
"But we know they were already hotter than Father's—they could have passed into the blue range during the past ten years."
There was a staticy sigh. "I don't know, Shouto. It sounds like this is all conjecture. If you're serious about this, you need to find some hard evidence." She paused a moment. "Please don't tell anyone else about this until you have that evidence, okay?"
Shouto frowned, but he could see her point. He would need to build his case more before letting Natsuo, or anyone else, in on this. Besides, it wouldn't be good if Dabi's real identity got out. "Okay."
He would send Fuyumi the list he was compiling, and keep her up-to-date as he added to it. He was sure he could convince her he was right, and then the two of them would figure out where to go from there.