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In all honesty, Touya didn’t really care that he’d gotten caught. He had had his moment of drama, spotlight all on him even in the massive battle, and that was enough. The face of the number one hero as the infamous villain Dabi single handedly destroyed his career was plenty to satisfy him. Sitting in the cold interrogation room, quirk suppressing handcuffs tight around his scarred wrists, Touya finally felt himself relax. There was no more planning, no more revenge, just a life in prison or an execution to look forward to. While dying wasn’t necessarily his top pick for what to do with his life, it wasn’t like he had anything else to do. Toga and Twice were in the rooms adjacent to his, most likely being interrogated at this moment.
Staring at the mirror to the left of him, Touya wondered who was behind it. Was it the bastard Enji Todoroki, or perhaps one of his siblings? If Touya could pick who would watch, he would appoint his mom and Shouto. Those two had caused so much of his pain, aside from the obvious father. Rei Himura, now known as Rei Todoroki, had given birth to him, which was obviously the worst thing someone could do for him. Shouto was the bane of his existence, the reason he was the way he was today. That son of a bitch had gotten everything Touya had ever wanted; parents and siblings that love him, a perfect and non-self destructive quirk, and a spot in UA’s hero course.
That golden child, the perfect son of Endeavor, was everything Touya wasn’t; calm, collected, sane, happy, and a hero. Despite all the years now of murdering people and committing arson, Touya still deep down wanted to be a hero. He loved the thrill of his arms igniting, the now subtle glow of white hot flames. When he had nearly died when he was thirteen, Touya had lost most of his nerves across his body. While this did mean that he could take out the cookies Toga made without wearing oven mitts, it also meant that he was no longer able to feel anything, would never be able to truly appreciate touch anymore, and had the constant feeling of everything being slightly… off . Now it was convenient that he no longer had fingerprints, but he also could never tell when his skin was melting off again. That led to more staples, more stitches, and more fake pain.
Just because he had no nerves didn’t mean that he couldn’t feel pain, in fact, it was quite the opposite. Phantom pain haunted him with nearly every movement, a now foundational part of his life. The worst, however, was when someone or something touched him. The pressing of the long dead skin grafts against his raw muscles always made his spine straighten, even when he wasn’t looking at it. It was the sensation of missing the feeling, the lack of connection to pain simply made it worse.
Leaning back against the steel chair he was currently sitting in, Touya wondered if it would be his turn soon. Based upon his criminal record, lifetime in jail was more than fair. If he was even that lucky. There was still a chance of execution.
The door opened, nearly making him jump. A bland looking detective walked in, Tsuka-something if he remembered correctly. He had nearly caught the arsonist a few times before, so that meant he was at least half-decent at his job. But alas, a cop was a cop, and Touya was a felon.
“Hello, Dabi. Or would you prefer Touya Todoroki?” Despite what he was saying, the detective didn’t have an ounce of venom in his voice. In Touya’s opinion, sincere people were the worst. They were just begging to be messed with, always so honest and trustworthy , true role models. That alone wasn’t really a reason to hate them, it was mostly just that Touya was once one himself that made him hate them. “My name is Naomasa Tsukauchi, and I’ll be the one interrogating you today.”
Touya didn’t dignify him with a response.
“If you have no objections, we’ll just get straight into it, then. This will be recorded for the records. First question: are you the presumed dead son of the Todoroki family, Touya Todoroki?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, thank you. Next, do you admit to being the wanted villain and criminal, Dabi?”
“Yeah.”
Touya didn’t really see the point in denying anything or dragging this out. He just wanted to get locked up and have some peace and quiet for once.
“Did you commit arson, in seventeen different locations and times?”
“Yeah, but it was actually…” he trailed off, mentally estimating his crimes. “Around thirty or so? Yeah, that’s about right.”
The detective seemed a tad flustered at that, making Touya crack a small grin. So easy to break . “Well, then, uh,” Tsukauchi adjusted the papers he was holding. “I’ll make note of that later. Let’s continue. Do you admit to murdering…” he looked at the papers, most likely realizing that the number displayed there was also too low. “Twenty or more people?”
“It was forty nine, and yes.” Man, cops are bad at their jobs these days. How hard was it to pin a murder onto a serial killer? “And before you ask, I also admit to committing the fifteen cases of vandalism, and the video slandering Endeavor.”
“That covers everything, I think.” The detective stood up, papers rustling as he adjusted them again. “You will be seen in court in one to three weeks. There are some people who wish to talk to you, so I’ll send them in a minute.”
A nod shared, and he was gone. Back to only having the comforting buzz of the air conditioning unit as noise, Touya slipped into his mind. It would be Enji, of course, but who else? Maybe Shouto, maybe one of the heroes who had been there for his epic reveal. Fuck, it could even be that green haired brat! Touya just hoped it wasn’t someone here to break him out. That would honestly be embarrassing. At that, he imagined Mr Compress wearing a fake mustache on top of his mask and snorted. At the same moment, the air conditioning unit cut off and one very pissed Shouto Todoroki stomped in.
“Who pissed in your cornflakes?” Touya couldn’t be bothered to give even a fraction of a shit as to why his younger brother was this enraged. Seeing Shouto get even more frustrated, the older man started to laugh. “What, got your panties in a twist? Hmm? Did I accidentally burn your Gucci bag earlier?”
“No, you fucking didn’t.” Shouto’s voice had either deepend slightly since Touya kidnapped Bakugou, or he was just astronomically pissed.
“Ah, okay then.” A beat of silence passed, Touya glancing around the room while Shouto let out a long, tired exhale. “Did you not get enough beauty sleep last night, darling?”
If looks could kill, Touya would be stabbed multiple times through the head. “You know what, I wanted to hear you out. I wanted to hear your side. But,” Shouto paused, glare going lower as he gave Touya the most exhausted stare. “I think that based on this little conversation, that won’t work.”
“Aww, did dear old dad teach you intimidation tactics? It must be so nice, the two of you together in a brightly lit room, comparing notes on the best way to-” His sentence was cut off by Shouto slapping him. “First of all, ow.” That was a lie, he couldn’t feel any real pain at it. “Second of all, why?”
Shouto scoffed, crossing his arms over his tattered hero costume. I wonder what mine would’ve looked like . “You fucked up, Touya .” Said man could feel the hurtful intent behind the kids words, but couldn’t bring himself to feel any sympathy. In his eyes, he hadn’t done anything too over the top, so why should he apologize?
“Please enlighten me, oh holier-than-thou child.”
Seeing Shouto get fed up with his shit was the most fun Touya had had in a while, so sue him for dragging it on. Actually, don’t. He’s already going to jail.
“I’ll fucking enlighten you. Did you know just how much damage you did yesterday? Just how many people can’t go home today because their home was destroyed in front of them by one- by one narcissistic, emotionally constipated bitch? Do you know how many kids are going to go to bed crying tonight because they found out that their favorite hero murdered someone? Do you? ”
“Well, I guess when you put it that way it sounds a little bad, but all in all? Worth it. I’d do it again.” He leaned forwards, elbows resting on the table and head in his hands as he pulled his near trademarked sarcastic grin at his younger brother. “What, you wouldn’t?” Shouto looked disgusted.
“No, I wouldn’t. I’m a hero.”
Had it been thirteen or so years ago, Touya may have reacted in the same way. “Listen, kid, you don’t know jack. Shit. So don’t be preaching all that hero shit at me. You don’t know what I’ve been through, what that bastard,” he wildey gestured at the mirror where he was sure Enji was watching through, “has done to me!”
Shouto took a deep breath. Putting on his big boy pants , Touya thought. The room felt a bit warmer, maybe Shouto was unconsciously using his quirk. He walked to the table, pulled out the chair across from Touya, and sat. His posture was perfect, hands neatly clasped in front of him. Clearly, he had something that he wanted to say, and was going to attempt to deliver it in a mature way. How cute .
“You do realize that you’re not the only one, right? Now, I will admit that I don’t know what he did to you, but that doesn’t invalidate the fact that I’ve also been through shit.” Shouto rubbed the bridge of his nose, the burnt skin scrunching up in a way that must’ve hurt. How did he get that scar anyways? Being a dumbass like me? “Did you know that Mom is in a mental hospital right now? I didn’t know this until recently, but apparently when she first got there, the only thing she wanted was to see you. She didn’t even know that you had died,” he did a double take at that, backtracking,” … or were supposedly dead. The only thing she had asked for was you.” Well, that was unexpected.
“That sounds like a problem that doesn’t concern me.” So what if she was in a hospital? He already knew that the bitch was insane, so it really just made sense. Right? “I don’t see how that relates to you having some teen angst or whatever the fuck it is you’re going through .” Everyone has an emo phase, get over yourself.
“The “shit I’m going through” is child abuse .”
“Well damn.”
“No, let me finish.” During this latter part of their conversation, Shouto had remained completely calm. “You don’t fucking know what that bastard has put me through, because you left . And I’m sorry for sounding a little edgy , but I’m currently working with a therapist to resolve my issues instead of doing…” he waved vaguely at Touya, “whatever it is that you did.”
“Good for you, I guess.” Part of Touya was curious. Just what did dear ol’ dad do to Shouto? Wait… “Was he the one to give you that piece of work?”
“No, actually. It was Mom.”
“Always knew she was psycho. I’m glad I left when I did.”
Shouto snapped at that. “No! This is your fault!” The glare was bad, and despite the hum of the air conditioner not returning, the warm atmosphere disappeared. “If you hadn’t gone away, then Mom might’ve been slightly saner for longer.” So insanity does run in the family .
“Okay, and?”
“AND you should feel a little remorse!” Shouto stood back up and walked to the door. “I’m going to come back tomorrow, too. Fuyumi said that she’d try and stop by later. I think you owe her an apology.” With no further comments to make, he left. Touya wondered why he didn’t mention Enji. Shrugging it off, he stretched down into the chair.
I wonder why he was so mad. It’s not like I did that many bad things, right? Glancing back at the mirror, Touya stuck out his tongue and flipped it off. I hope Shouto is back there. The brat doesn’t know anything, really. He’s what, fifteen? Sixteen, maybe? That’s not old enough to know the world. He doesn’t know what I’ve been through. He. doesn’t. Know. A small, quiet voice spoke up in his head. But what if he does? I was thirteen when I “died”, so his age can’t really discredit his experiences. And I wasn’t there. I… I don’t know what he went through.
“Still,” Touya murmured aloud to no one, “he’s a son of bitch, but I guess we did come from the same bitch. That adds up, right?” He chuckled, then sat up. “Fuyumi is probably really pissed.” How long had it been since he’d last seen his younger sister? Well, it doesn’t matter now. All he could do now is sit here, and wait for his sentence. Maybe it was good that he’d gotten caught. Afterall, who doesn’t want to have a big family reunion in jail?
Touya had already accepted his fate. It was set, and life in jail didn’t sound that bad. So why was he now feeling this regret? It didn’t matter. Shoving all of his feelings aside, Touya made himself comfortable, or at least as comfortable as one could when in a steel chair. He’d have plenty of time to figure it out later, so for now? Now, he would just take a nap.
Feelings could wait.