Work Text:
Another chunk parted from the formerly delicious looking muffin and joined the mess of crumbles. Dabi’s fingers took it apart, piece by piece, denying him his destiny of being eaten and bringing fleeting joy to Dabi’s life—although the possibility of turning this evening into a bearable one has long perished. It was gone ever since his family entered the canteen of the mental institution Dabi had been placed in.
The convicted arsonist hesitated to take flight because he refused to leave his muffin behind. The pastry was the only delicious thing in this hellhole. Well, besides Shigaraki. Not that he ever tasted him, or wanted to! Not like anything would change even if he wanted to do so.
Damn. Poor muffin. I guess my therapist would say I’m taking my frustration out on an innocent bystander again.
The second reason Dabi stayed seated and played innocent was the small flicker of hope that the group of familiar faces was visiting the asylum in order to pester another messed-up family member. With the Todorokis’ track record, odds weren’t that bad.
He should have made a bolt for it. That became apparent as two guards positioned themselves behind Dabi while Endeavor and his spawns took seats across from him. They must have bribed the staff. He had refused their visit requests countless times.
Dabi kept his gaze firmly locked onto the massacred muffin, but he could feel their burning ones on him even without looking up.
Natsuo was the first to bombard him with his pent-up emotions: “Touya, you... why didn’t you tell me you were still alive? I would have come for you. You know that, right? Why didn’t you... Didn’t you trust me? ...I would have helped you. I’m going to help you! Touya, please look at me!”
His brother tried to reach out for him, but Fuyumi cupped her hands around his before he could reach the villain. Dabi nearly missed his sister’s throaty whisper due to the blood pumping through his head: “You don’t know how relieved we are that you are well, but how could you... Why didn’t you just come back? We missed you. We prayed for you, every day, while you were out there and... I can’t believe you did this.”
How could he? He had planned on never seeing them again, that’s how he could. Except to see Endeavor’s shocked face while he drew his last breath, or Shouto’s defeated one when he realized that he wasn’t the perfect creation after all. Dabi had never planned on failing though.
And even if he had, even if he would have risked snapping by thinking of the consequences of his actions, nothing would have prepared him for this tsunami of emotions rolling through him right now. He couldn’t decipher all of them, but he could feel their intensity as they threatened to drown him.
Dabi rolled his head to the side, looking for an escape, when he registered the person leaning on the wall. The damp lamp only illuminated the lower half of his body, leaving the rest of him in darkness. However, shadows or not, Dabi would have recognised those glittering crimson eyes even in the darkest alleyways. Shigaraki looked straight at him.
Well, there is another one from the list of people I disappointed. Does he despise me for my weakness like dear old dad? Not that I could hold it against him. I failed the League. I wasn’t strong enough, again.
In the end, neither of them were able to achieve their dreams, nor was he able to prevent the League’s annihilation. Funnily enough, a new dream had taken shape in Dabi’s mind during his days with those lunatics. Though it was a dream even more ridiculous than taking down hero society. After all, who would ever be interested in a patchwork freak like him?
Fuyumi kept fuming, but Dabi wasn’t paying attention. When he turned his gaze away from his former leader, it caught the sight of bicolored eyes staring at him. The apathetic look struck his nerves even more than Fuyumi’s accusations. Therefore, Dabi did the only logical thing a convicted villain could do while sitting face to face with an aspiring hero: He flicked a crumble of his muffin at Shouto’s face.
Shouto’s puzzled face gave Dabi a little bit of satisfaction. Even Fuyumi stopped her tirade and paused for air. The ceasefire didn’t last for long though.
“Really? You left us for years in order to become a villain and you have nothing to say? When you left... when we told mom that you...“
“Don’t you dare bring her into this!” Dabi snarled. He finally snapped.
Fuyumi shied away as if a murderer just threatened her, and well, that was exactly the case. Endeavor tried to comfort her by laying a hand on her shoulder and, for the first time since he entered this room, he spoke: “Touya, you’re going to stop this childish behaviour. We both made mistakes and I’m aware of my failure as a father and a hero. You can hate me all you want, but don’t take this out on anyone else, especially not your siblings. This is my fault. I never should have let it come this far.”
Dabi pressed his lips together and continued his efforts of ignoring them. He looked at the ceiling, anywhere but at his creator. He won’t give Endeavour anything, not even a look, but his traitorous hands gave his nervousness away. Destroying the crumbs, until even Shigaraki’s quirk couldn’t have disintegrated the former muffin any further.
And although he could escape Endeavor’s eyes, he couldn’t escape his words: “I will never be the father you might wish for, but I’ll be the father you need. You’re clearly unable to make your own decisions, therefore you’ll do what I decide is best and you will stop this childish rebellion of yours.”
Dabi’s breath sped up and became more and more laboured. For someone who had fantasized about killing his father for years, the words Endeavor said had more of an impact than he would ever admit. Dabi tried to focus on the dull tapping of raindrops on the windows, but he still wasn’t able to blur out Endeavor’s scolding.
While Endeavor went on about hired doctors and lawyers, Dabi repeatedly tried to activate his quirk, but the suppressant cuffs mocked him and his incapacity. Who would he have engulfed in his flames if he had them at his disposal? He wasn’t sure.
“Hey there, NPCs!”
The hurricane of emotions came to a halt at the sound of Shigaraki’s voice, as if his quirk enabled him to disintegrate Dabi’s darkest thoughts.
And there he was, the former leader of the nation’s most dangerous villain organisation, looking down on all of them with that trademark grin Dabi learned to love. He shoved the guards aside like old window curtains and took a seat next to the arsonist. Every move was taken with the confidence of a main character among a bunch of extras.
The guards quickly backed off and maintained a safe distance. Every inmate was forced to wear quirk cancellers, but the clinic’s personnel clearly wasn’t eager to test them when it mattered.
Shigaraki put his right arm around the arsonist’s back while his left hand slowly traced the seam line on Dabi’s chest. Said villain tensed up. He was torn between pure excitement and the fear of getting decayed, but the sudden sharp pain coming from his neck left no room for existential crises. Shigaraki looked at him and grinned even wider. Those intense crimson eyes stayed locked onto Dabi’s as Shigaraki licked over the dental imprint he just left. Tongue still connected to the scar tissue, the imposter’s gaze, yeah it had to be an imposter, wandered to the group of people whose disappearance Dabi desperately wished for.
Dabi was determined to ignore their existence, but unfortunately, the miraculous person next to him, who looked and smelled shockingly similar to Shigaraki, acknowledged them by speaking up: “Pardon my manners, I just can’t help myself whenever I see this delicious piece of burnt bacon. How exciting to finally meet my in-laws. Outside of life-threatening situations, that is. Natsuo, Todoroki one, Todoroki two, aaand ... aaah, I swear I’ve seen you before. You kinda look like this Endeavor guy, but I got my face burnt off the last time I saw him so I’m not quite sure. Don’t take it personally if it takes me a while to learn all your names and life stories. Talking about irrelevant stuff isn’t yet part of our relationship, right babe? Your mouth has so much more to offer.”
Dabi faintly registered the heat radiating from Endeavor as the No 1 hero burst into flames. His surroundings, Fuyumi’s shocked screams and Natsuo’s resounding laughter were muffled due to Dabi’s remaining brain cells collectively focusing on the one question at hand. The only one that truly mattered:
Is he serious? No, don’t be stupid. He’s just trying to pull a stunt on Endeavor.
Maybe he is trying to help you... maybe he likes you...
No, he wouldn’t. How could he ever...
Shigaraki leaned closer and silenced Dabi’s destructive thoughts once more. He took his hand with four fingers and grinned like a kid who just ate a whole jar of cookies and framed his brother: “Shall we?”
Dabi couldn’t help but smile back.
“Take your hands off my son this instant! I should have burnt you into a pile of ashes. Touya, get away from this scamp!” Endeavor growled, emitting the same oppressive aura that haunted Dabi’s nightmares. But his father couldn’t faze him anymore, not with Shigaraki by his side. And maybe that would suffice. Maybe it wouldn’t matter if their bond was called “love,” “camaraderie,” or something else as long as he was there.
Shigaraki’s self-confidence must have been contagious, because Dabi felt as if someone had injected him with adrenaline. He let Shigaraki pull him up and hold him close to his chest. When he finally turned his head to face his family up front, he was glad that he did, because the sight that greeted him was something to behold.
Endeavor’s head was as red as it could get. Together with his hair and the fire engulfing him, he had turned into one huge red raging blob. Natsuo could barely stay upright from his laughing fit and Fuyumi opened and closed her mouth like a fish while poking Shouto and pointing at the two villains. Even Shouto’s ‘I’m cool and collected’ software had stopped working, as he looked at Dabi with the same look he had on the day Touya told him where babies really came from.
With the borderline maniacal smile he always used to wear and a voice dripping with sarcasm, Dabi poured gasoline on the dumpster fire: “Aren’t cha proud of me, dad? You always told us a strong quirk is the most important thing in a partner. If you wanna drag me back to your dining table, you’ll have to account for mophead here too... and I know you’re all about traditions and stuff, but let’s try not abusing him just because he’s family now.”
Endeavor made an animalistic sound and lunged at them, but Shigaraki dragged Dabi out of his reach and quipped: “Sorry! Family time is over. Dabae here is scheduled for a physical examination. See ya!”
By now, the fire scorched the ceiling and heat caused the windows to burst into pieces. Since the villains didn’t feel like dying a gruesome death, they escaped the room. Guards equipped with fire-extinguishers ran past them and straight towards the cursing Endeavor.
“YOU! How dare you... And Touya! One step more and I’ll put you in solitary confinement for the rest of your life!”
And surprisingly, the less hostile voice of his sister shouted after them as well: “Gosh, Touya! Do you even know how to use protection?!”
But Dabi was captivated by the person dragging him through corridors and the peals of laughter coming from him. They ran until they found a door whose key Shigaraki had apparently stolen. Dabi’s stomach tightened a little as Shigaraki let Dabi’s hand go and walked ahead.
Right, this was only for show. Don’t get your hopes up, you stupid idiot.
The door led them to the clinic’s rooftop. Tokyo’s night-time skyline stretched across the horizon in front of them, the stars above reflected in puddles of rainwater. The night sky and city lights competed to outshine each other. If he had cared, it would probably be a beautiful sight.
Dabi walked over to the edge and sat down. Chilly night air had never bothered him even once in his life and yet he felt cold. Shigaraki looked at him, arms outstretched with a questioning look on his face: “Isn’t it beautiful? Well, decaying it would take it to the next level, but I think I should get points for finding a date-worthy place in this hideous asylum.”
“You can stop it now.”
“Huh?”
“Thanks for helping me out, but… no point in fooling around if they can’t hear ya, right?”
“Heh. Now look at that,” Shigaraki dropped his arms and tilted his head to the side. His toothy grin changed into a cocky smirk: “And here I thought the half-hot half-cold kid was the oblivious one in your family.”
Dabi watched him with narrowed eyes as he came closer and sat down on a wall behind him. An unpredictable Shigaraki was usually the most dangerous one.
Shigaraki put a finger under Dabi’s chin and made him look up properly. “You see that? This view. This world beneath us? The security measurements here are a joke. We can run and make this world ours anytime you want.” He turned Dabi’s face so that their eyes met. ”Or we can stay here. Freak out your family and threaten the other crazy ones into giving you tons of those cupcakes you are so obsessed with. I don’t care, as long as we wreak havoc together.”
Dabi stopped breathing for a second. Stopped anything nonessential while his thoughts ran wild.
This is madness. Why would he say something like this… unless it’s true? He can’t be serious.
But if he is… do I dare believe dreams can become reality? I suppose I’m a childish fool after all.
Well, if being a childish fool feels this good, I’m happy to be one.
And at last, Dabi uttered the most romantic response his brain, which, at this point, was at the brink of collapsing, managed to come up with: “Cool. I guess.”
