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Dabi was a walking mystery, even to his friends. They only knew his real name was Touya because they've heard his teachers calling him that, but he was truly a mystery.
The things they knew about him were limited:
- He was 25.
-He had significant other (whether they were a boyfriend or girlfriend was unknown).
-He was studying photography, much to his father's displeasure.
-As fas as they were aware, he had no friends besides them.
-He had 3 siblings, and absolutely hated his dad's guts. He never spoke of his family life besides that.
-His hobby was setting things on fire.
And that was it. It definitely wasn't much, but Dabi was a very recluded person. He didn't even liked to go out with his self-proclaimed friends.
"Daaaabs, please!" Toga Himiko, one of said self proclaimed friends, whined. She was a freshman, and was currently studying to be a dancer.
"Drop it, Toga" Tenko, the also self proclaimed leader of the group, said. He was the most grumpy aspiring artist ever known to man, although he had a soft spot for his grandmother, who had raised him since he was a kid "He'd rather die before going out with us."
"You're not wrong, but I'm busy."
"You're always busy!" Toga kept on whining while they made their way out of their faculty, where their other friends Jin and Sako waited for them.
Jin was an aspiring actor, same as Sako, although that last one had a weird passion for magic tricks. And Jin had a tendency of getting too much in character. Lately he had been obsessed with playing a mentally unstable man with a split personality and would rarely break character, arguing it was necessary for him to prepare for the role.
Surprisingly enough, Dabi was the most patient with those two, and from time to time, whenever he wouldn't reject a quick coffee run with them, he would even offer to help them with their lines for whatever play they were rehearing now on their classes, and even offer them some pointers on their acting.
Despite the fact that only Jin and Sako were studying the same, they were all related to art in some way, and somehow their little group was born, with Toga making the argument that 'they were all social outcasts, and as such should stay together'.
Toga and Jin already knew each other, and met Sako when Jin started his studies as an aspiring actor. Dabi already knew Tenko, and one day an accident that resulted in spilled coffee (and it was Tenko and Dabi's favorite too, from their friend's Spinner's shop) had them meeting Toga, Twice and Sako. And then their unusual group was formed. They usually hung out in Spinner's shop. He wasn't the owner, but he was the only full-time employee. Spinner had been one of those not so lucky ones that barely managed to finish high school and couldn't afford a college education, so now he worked at the coffee shop near their faculty. Tenko had initially met him trough an online game he was addicted to, and eventually found out Spinner worked at that coffee place.
So Spinner was the last, unofficial member of their particularly weird gang.
"Spinner said there would be chocolate brownies today! They're your favorite, c'mon!" Toga kept on trying to convince Dabi.
"I said I'm busy."
"Bitch, with what!?" Toga snapped, at the same time they arrived at the entrance, with Jin and Sako (or Twice and Compress, as they insisted were their 'stage names') already waiting for them, having been finished with their classes about 40 minutes before the other 3 were.
Dabi opened his mouth to answer, probably to tell Tenko it was none of his business, when a shout came from somewhere in front of them.
Dabi's head whipped around immediately, apparently recognizing the voice, and before he could even say anything, there was a kid running at full speed at Dabi. He reacted immediately, dropping down and welcoming the kid on his arms, who crashed with Dabi's chest with a muffled 'oof'.
"Dad!" said the white haired little boy.
"Ryu, why...? Why are you here? Wait, why are you alone? Where's your daddy? You didn't came here on your own, did you?"
The boy looked down, a sheepish smile on his face that served as enough of an answer to his question. And then, as if on cue, another figure arrived, short of breath and looking like he was about 5 seconds away from having an actual heart attack.
Somewhere behind Dabi, Toga gasped, no doubt recognizing the new stranger as none other than the famous model and actor Hawks.
"Ryu! Don't ever do that again, don't just go running off like that!" he scolded.
Dabi sighted, standing up straight again and facing Hawks.
"What happened?"
"We were going to Iguchi's because he said he would have some of your favorite brownies today, so I wanted to surprise you when you got home. I told Ryu your faculty was close and that you were probably done with classes already and he just took off! Lil birdie is getting fast by the day" Hawks huffed.
Dabi shook his head.
"Of course he is, he's your son" he then kneeled down again to look at the kid. "Ryu, why did you ran away like that from your daddy?"
"I wanted to see you..." the kid admitted in a low whisper.
"I understand, little bird, but you know you're not supposed to run off like that. You should have been patient, I would have been home soon anyway."
"I'm sorry..."
"Don't apologize to me, apologize to your daddy. You scared him, you know that, right?"
Ryu nodded, blue gaze still glued on the ground, before he turned around and made his way over to Hawks, who immediately took the kid up in his arms.
"I'm sorry, daddy..."
"And?" Dabi asked, raising and eyebrow. Ryu pouted.
"And I promise I won't do it again."
"It's okay, little bird. I'm not mad" Hawks reassured him "As long as you don't do it again, you're not in trouble."
Ryu seemed to brighten up at that, giving Hawks a big smile.
"So..." Toga interrupted "Dabs, when were you going to tell us you know Hawks!?"
"All this time you've met a famous actor, and you didn't think it was necessary to introduce us!?" Jin said, apparently so shocked that he even broke character in what felt like the first time in the past few days "Not cool, man! You know me and Sako..."
"Sako and I" Sako corrected him.
"... Are working our butts off here!" Jin carried on "We could use some tips from a professional!"
Dabi rolled his eyes.
"Fine. Everyone, you already know him as Hawks, but this is my fiancé, Kei. And our son, Ryu."
Hawks gave them one of his model smiles, waving at the group.
"Hi, everyone! Oh, hi Tenko! Didn't saw you there."
Tenko waved back at Hawks.
"YOU HAVE A SON WITH HAWKS!?" Jin and Toga screeched in unison.
"Yes, that's what I said, you dumba..."
"Touya." Hawks cut him off, frowning. Dabi's eyes set on Ryu and he effectively shut up.
Tenko started laughing.
"Nice to see he's still got you on a leash."
"Oh, shut up. You can't tell me anything when my younger brother bosses you around."
Tenko effectively stopped laughing, glaring at Dabi.
Sako turned to look at Tenko "You already knew this?"
He shrugged.
"I've been dating Natsuo for almost two years, of course I knew. Family dinners are always fun with the Todorokis."
"Speaking of" Hawks cut in "Fuyumi said she's bringing Rumi to the next one."
"Auntie Rumi is coming!?" Ryu asked, excited.
"She might as well actually be coming as your official aunt already..." Dabi mumbled.
Tenko, however, shuddered.
"I'm not coming then."
"Oh no, you're not getting out of this one. C'mon, you're able to survive one dinner with your ex. You know Natsuo won't let you miss it. Might as well get used to seeing her again now, you're most likely to become in-laws."
Hawks and Dabi shared a knowing look, both fully knowing that Natsuo was already starting to consider asking Tenko the big question.
But before he could ever answer, Dabi addressed Hawks again.
"How about we go grab something to eat at Spinner's then?"
"Sounds good to me."Hawks shrugged.
"Great! Because we're coming with!" Toga chimed in.
"We were going to go to Spinner's either way..." Jin said. Dabi was about to tell them to fuck off when Hawks interrupted him.
"Sure! Sounds like a great opportunity to get to know each other. Dabi doesn't talks about you guys that much."
"Because they're annoying..." he growled.
Everyone ignored him, striking up casual conversation as they made their way over to the shop.
Once there, everyone greeted Spinner (Toga pretending to be offended once she realized he also knew about Hawks and Dabi) and sat down at one of their tables, ordering something to eat and drink.
Ryu sat on Dabi's lap, perfectly content to let Toga play with his fluffly white hair while he discussed a video game with Tenko, Dabi cutting in from time to time. Meanwhile, Hawks, Sako and Jin were now in their own nerdy bubble, talking about different teather shows and musicals, Hawks giving the other two some acting tips and tricks to land a role, until they ended up discussing the differences between Stanislavski and Dideroit's acting techniques and proposals.
Hawks had been lucky, having gotten a role on a somewhat famous movie a couple of years ago, which really helped him gain popularity, although he was already somewhat well-known as a model.
In reality, both Dabi and Hawks had very busy lifestyles. Hawks was always busy either modeling, rehearsing for a new play, or recording a new movie or show (although Hawks tended to reject TV shows, since they tended to run for longer time, which required him to be on set longer than he liked. He'd however made one or two exceptions). Meanwhile Dabi had to manage college and his job at a tattoo parlor, and they both did it all while still taking care of their almost 5 year old son and somehow getting started on planning a wedding for next year, after Dabi's graduation.
So if Dabi was a walking mystery to his friends, it really wasn't just because he liked to be one, but because he actually was rather busy almost every day.
And that was how the rest of the group went on to discover a little bit more about the gang's local cryptid.