Chapter Text
"Stop picking at it. It'll just hurt more."
Shouto sighed, dropping his hands from his neck to his lap as he curled up against his older brother, shivering from the harsh winter air. Realistically, he knew both he and Touya could use their flames to warm themselves up, but the burns snaking up under Touya's his hoodie sleeves, burning its way through flesh up to his chest was a reminder of why playing with fire always ended with someone getting hurt.
"I'm sorry.." Shouto mumbled, his right, unburnt hand pulling the end of the sleeve over the fresh burns. If he couldn't see it, he could trick himself to not focus on the pain. Just like all the other times. Touya simply shook his head and pulled his brother closer, mindful of the field of burns across his body, his own at the back of his mind. The night would only get worse, the two knew this and the abandoned building they had found themselves in was far from ideal or a warm place to stay. But neither had nowhere else to go, they weren't even sure if there was another, safer place around and Touya was not letting Shouto stay in a place where he could get injured.. more.
Protect him, just like you did at home. Touya tried not to blame himself, but the guilt of seeing Shouto scream in pain from all the burns whilst he just sat back and did nothing haunted him. He couldn't protect him from their father, so how is he supposed to protect him from a world that was far less forgiving? That's if they even made it through the night.
He let himself heat up a little, ignoring the sting of sensitive skin. He could deal with it if it meant that Shouto had a little more warmth. Touya could just about see the sky through cracked floorboards. He always told his younger siblings to count the stars and the person who got to the highest number got to have the last forbidden bar of chocolate, the last sip of soda that had been removed from their diet weeks ago or the first picks on which takeout he's take them to when their father was too busy with hero work to feed them. He won some times, when the hunger got too much for him to handle and there was a risk of him passing out during training, but most of the times he let them win because seeing the light in their eyes return when he snuck downstairs to grab the forbidden item or took them out for food was worth it. It was worth the risk.
"Hey Little Flame, are you still awake?" He asked, looking down at Shouto who was staring blankly at the wall in front of them, drawn to the broken picture frame with shredded paper and large graffiti "Fuck the Heroes" taking up the majority of the wall. Touya half wished he was the one to spray paint that. Shouto nodded, looking up at him with eased practice of pretending that he wasn't hurting.
"Let's count the stars, the person who reaches the highest number gets to choose what we do tomorrow? How does that sound?" He offered, not missing the smile that spread across Shouto's face. He didn't need to think about what he wanted to do, full intention on letting Shouto win their game, but as soon as they reached two hundred and four, the younger was fast asleep, mumbling numbers.
True to the rules, Touya technically reached the higher number of two hundred and five, whispering it before he noticed that the other was asleep, so he got to choose the activities of the following day. After thinking for a good half hour, he decided that a makeover for the both of them was much needed.
...
It took Touya almost three years to ban the words "Hey Touya, we may have a slight issue" in that order, as it usually meant that the two brothers were forced to drop everything they were doing and either run or fight. They had learnt a year previously, after an encounter with an uprising Hero with irritating wings, that hiding was not an option.
So, when those words were said once again, Touya was about to lose it. Being a quiet morning of slight villainy by stealing medication from a large chain store and spray painting "Fuck Endeavor" on the side of the Hero's agency building, Touya hoped it would remain that way. But as per usual, their temporary hideout which happened to be a little too close to the busy city life, was found by a hero intern who called in backup.
"How many heroes?" Touya asked, grabbing his face mask to hide his burns on the lower part of his face. Shouto glanced out of the window, pulling a backpack onto his back as he tried to conceal the fact that his fingers were shaking as they moved from the window frame.
"Two, they look like underground heroes. I know one of them is Eraser, so running might be the better option. They also have a bunch of interns. They look around my age."
"And are you okay to do that?" Touya asked, grabbing his own bag. It was light, their possessions lost in the past three years, and it only held what they stole and fought their hardest to keep. For Touya, that was their decreasing amount of money and a small sewing kit to keep his body from falling apart. He never fought to keep photos of the family who watched him burn.
"What are you implying?" Before Touya could respond, the door of their makeshift bedroom burst open revealing Eraserhead and a few interns who all seemed to hesitate upon seeing the brothers. Both were accustomed to their burn scars drawing unwanted attention and Dabi's hasty patching with a needle and black thread was something he quickly learnt to cover up whenever he was out in public.
Using the split second of hesitation, the brothers ran, Touya being the first to dive out of the nearest window, sliding town tiled rooftops as Shouto followed him, but in a less graceful manner. His back hit the metal support beams so harshly, Touya was scared he heard bones crack. He spared Shouto a quick, concerned glance before tugging at his jumper to pull him down the fire escape and closer to the city center.
The street, despite being filled with people taking advantage of the warm Spring weather, the two found it easy to slip by, losing themselves in the crowd who were unafraid of pushing them around if they got in the way. The heroes might have the advantage of being important enough to make the crowd split in order to let them run past, but the brothers had the upper hand of knowing how close the heroes were and where. They could disappear like smoke in the matter of minutes, slipping through back alleyways and jumping over low walls whilst their chasers were still in the streets searching.
Shouto grabbed Touya's hand as he darted around a corner, just as one of the hero interns ran past. He wasn't easy to miss, his quirk just as explosive as his personality as he yelled insults at whoever got in his way. Touya concealed his laughter as another one of the interns had to physically restrain him from blasting a building.
"I would not like to cross him. Imagine if the redhead wasn't there, he would have a fucking lawsuit on his hands." Touya ducked around the corner again, turning to face where Shouto was standing, still holding onto his arm tightly. "Little Flame?"
Shouto let go of his arm, dropping to his knees in a violent fit of coughs, quickly throwing up blood. His hands gripped gravel and stone on the floor beneath him, fingers catching on broken glass and needles. His breaths were uneven and hesitant, as if any breath he took would lead to him spiraling into another coughing fit or throwing up. Touya put a hand to his face, drawing it back quickly when the thread in his hand started to smoke. The thread fell loose on the floor, unstitching itself as he grabbed Shouto's shoulders to sit him up properly.
"Have you been using your quirk too much again? I thought we talked about this." Touya kept his voice in a low whisper, subconscious about the heroes still looking for them. With any luck, they moved on to more serious issues. The wanted posters in the alleyway, a picture of both of them, was a reminder that they shouldn't be so hopeful.
Shouto shook his head, taking deep breaths once his coughing calmed down. "'m fine.. Just ill."
"Yeah no shit you're ill. How long have you felt like this?"
"Two days.. maybe three. It got worse last night.. almost threw up twice. I didn't want to wake you up because I knew you needed rest." Shouto leant forward, coughing up more blood onto the floor beside him. Touya moved away slightly, keeping his hands planted on his brother's shoulders, free from his burning skin. "I can use my quirk to cool myself down for a bit."
Touya hesitated. The last thing they needed was frostbite, but having to carry Shouto if he ended up passing out would only draw more suspicion. He couldn't focus properly. The argument just around the corner would no doubt draw the attention of some hero who would be overjoyed to find two more villains to capture and with a bounty on their head worth more than the two combined, Touya didn't want to fall this quickly.
"Fine.. Use your ice to cool yourself down but if I feel the cold through your clothes you stop. I don't need you dying on me. Not yet at least." With that, Touya picked Shouto up, his arms around his back and under his knees. Shouto's backpack was still attached to him, acting like a pillow which neither minded. "I'll carry you until you cool down then your lay ass is walking."
"Gee thanks. I feel loved." Shouto mumbled, his head against Touya's shoulder, sparing a few minutes to close his eyes. The shared thought of it will be okay crossed both of their minds even though that was a promise neither could keep. It never had been okay, and they were far from reaching the safety that secured them fir more than a month.
"Just rest you dumbass."