Chapter Text
“. . . How did you pull this off, again?” Keigo frowned, looking around the opulent office. It wasn’t exactly the kind of thing he expected from, well, someone like them.
The little white-furred demon sat with his paws steepled over the desk. “Why, anything is possible if you try hard enough, Hawks-kun!” He raised an eyebrow, looking around more exaggeratedly.
“I’m with him,” Rumi crossed her arms, tapping her foot impatiently. “Witches and demons don’t usually, you know, mingle.”
“Perhaps it’s time for that to change!”
“. . . Okay but how did you get them to agree to raise their children for them?” He passed a weird look to the principal, who only showed an unnerving amount of teeth. Was that supposed to be a smile?
“I’m not raising their children, I’m merely the principal!”
“But you are around their children,” Rumi insisted. “I just don’t get how you managed to swing this.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Nedzu dismissed them, sipping at his tea as if this were a pleasant get together with friends. “The point is, I’m the principal now, and all the little demonlings will be welcomed at this school. I’ll make sure of it. You have a nephew, don’t you, Hawks? Perhaps he could be of the first demon students to attend UA!”
“Maybe.” He muttered noncommittally. The bullying would be horrible, no matter what Nedzu promised. Witches and demons just didn’t mingle. He wasn’t putting Tokoyami through that.
“Excellent. I’ll contact you later with the details.” He smiled another unnerving grin, leaving Hawks to stare back silently instead of correcting the rodent. Rumi shifted awkwardly beside him, getting the eyes back on her.
“But what about me? Why am I here? I don’t have any brats in my family.”
“But you’re the Number Two demonkin hero, Miruko! That’s quite the feat, don’t you think? It’s not everyday a demon becomes a hero! You and Hawks have many adoring fans - an announcement of my promotion has already been issued publicly, of course, but an endorsement from the two of you could really kick off this program!”
Keigo screwed up his face. “I dunno. . . isn’t that a little. . . .” Nedzu didn’t respond or even urge him to continue. Instead, he took a long, patient sip of his tea, eyes never wavering from the hero. Finally, Keigo let out a little breath. “It’s just that I don’t know how demons are going to fare, going to a witches’ school. The should be taught by demons who know what it’s like better-”
“And they will be! Ectoplasm and Hounddog have already agreed to come on as teachers. They’re some of the best demonkind has to offer!” Hawks blinked at the easy look on Nedzu’s face. This wasn’t- it just didn’t seem like a good idea. But arguing with the omni-intelligent being would be a waste of time, and Rumi seemed to agree.
She dropped back, her shoulders shrugging as they shared a look. “I guess we could always bring it up. Wouldn’t hurt.” Except for all the demon kids they’d condemn to bullying and harassment. But Nedzu was smart. Keigo’d let this play out for now, only minimizing his own role in the whole affair.
“Great! Well then, I suppose we’re in accord. That’ll be all.” Nedzu dismissed, flipping through a few files on his desk. Keigo had no clue how the hell he’d managed to become principal.
Rumi led the way out. She was holding the door for him when Nedzu called again. “Oh! Pardon me, can you hang back a second Hawks? There’s one more thing I wanted to discuss with you.”
Keigo hesitated, gold and red eyes exchanging questions furiously. After a long moment, Rumi shrugged again. “I’ll wait for you outside the door?”
He shook his head. No telling how long he’d be kept. “No, go ahead. I’ll scry you later?”
She watched him for a second longer. “Scry you later, I guess. Don’t let the rat steal legal guardianship of your nephew.”
“Even I don’t have legal guardianship over my nephew.”
“Yeah, so make sure that Nedzu doesn’t find a way to get it.” She rolled her eyes like it were obvious, the door slamming shut with a bit more force than necessary. That was just how Rumi was, though. Aggressive in all things, even closing doors.
The rat didn’t comment on their exchange, nor did he so much as give Keigo the chance to turn back around before he was thrusting a grey folder his way and debriefing him. “I have a little mission for you, a more personal matter from me. I know you don’t typically take them from me, but I’m willing to negotiate for proper payment. This is a terribly sensitive matter, and I’d like to see it done right, with as little leaks as possible.”
Keigo eyed him, but didn’t say anything at first. Instead, he flipped open the thick cardstock, letting the hefty weight of it peak his curiosity.
What stared back was a dark haired figure in a black jacket, face obscured from the camera from an unfortunately-timed crow flying by. Huh. Weird they’d keep that. “You didn’t have any better pictures?” He asked, flipping to the next.
And, oh, they didn’t? Each picture had some other thing happen, just barely managing to ruin the photo entirely. A newspaper caught in the breeze here, a sign falling off just one of its hooks overhead, even some construction coven witches carrying a board down the street. It looked like whoever took it had been incompetent.
“He’s a wild witch.” Nedzu explained. “It’s believed he’s using some spell or another to block his appearance from us. We aren’t sure why.”
“Why are you taking pictures of him in the first place?” The folder was hefty, after all, but it had no words or graphs. Nothing to note why he was important, just a guy with a lot of poorly-taken photos. Keigo frowned.
Humming, Nedzu’s beady little eyes stayed casually on the photos. This one had a literal piano falling from up high, like some sort of old-timey comedy. What the hell? Illusion magic? But why was it affecting the photo? If it was a long-term illusion on the person looking at it, it should still be unable to touch anyone the man himself hadn’t seen and been able to put the spell on.
“He’s of interest to us. Not quite a hero, but he’s got potential. I’d like to rehabilitate him and get the Council to accept wild witches, too.” Nedzu explained, making Keigo wince. His own experience with the HPSC was not exactly. . . pleasant. And Nedzu should get that, too.
“You’d negotiate with them? After everything they’ve done?”
Nedzu’s expression turned carefully neutral, but Keigo didn’t bother to hide the look he shot at the bright pink scar over the rodents’ eye. “Sacrifices are necessary for peace. It was a different Council then.”
“Bullshit,” He scoffed.
“Language.” The rodent corrected. “This is a school, Hawks.”
A school for witches! Keigo didn’t give a shit if he corrupted their children anymore than they cared about slaughtering his people’s. Crossing his arms, he glared petulantly at the snowy-furred chimera, the demon looking like he didn’t care at all that he was making deals with devils.
“Let me handle this, Hawks,” The rodent - roach, more like - tried to placate him. It didn’t particularly work. “All you need to worry about is convincing him to come to me for hero training.”
“Why?” Keigo asked, folding his arms derisively. “We don’t need him.”
“We do, actually.” Nedzu looked off. “Dabi is not tied down to a coven, Hawks. He’s a powerful witch, but a recluse. We need someone like him in our corner.”
“In our. . . . What are you planning?” Keigo narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but all it got him was the rodent tilting another unnerving smile his way.
“Do not worry! I have all the technicalities handled. Now, all we have to discuss is what it would take for you to accept this little task?”
Swooping down to land in the little clearing well outside of town, he eyed the little cottage suspiciously. It was white with a darker roof and a little phoenix weather vane on top. The windows were colored glass split warm colors on one side and cool tones on the other, depicting phoenixes, suns, moons, and stars. The phoenixes were typically silhouettes, blues, or purples. It was quaint and homely. Too quaint. Too homely. Keigo didn’t trust this.
What had he gotten himself into? He could curse Nedzu for making deals with devils all he liked, making a deal with Nedzu was the same thing. And negotiating with him was like negotiating with a brick wall, except the brick wall somehow ended up with your wallet and keys and probably married to your wife by the end of things. Thank the stars Keigo didn’t have a wife.
Alright, that was getting a bit away from him. It was best he focus on the task at hand, anyway. A few strides had him arriving at the wood door, blinking at the little eclipse motif carved into the wood. He raised his hand to knock.
A clatter came from inside. Distant, muffled, then voices. One sounded angry, and the others sounded. . . angry. Honestly, it just sounded like an argument was going on in there. He really didn’t want to deal with some bastard witch in a foul mood today, but here he fucking was. At least he didn’t have to explain to Rumi that he was being sent on a mission and trying to skirt around exactly what he was doing. She didn’t really respect his privacy.
But at the same time, the sooner he got this done, the sooner he could call Nedzu, tell him he failed, then head home and not deal with any of his brand-new headaches that had been so lovingly handed over to him today. He knocked, the sound reverberating in a strange way.
All noise cut from inside. For a moment, he thought he was going to get lucky and they were going to pretend they weren’t home. Instead, Keigo’s shitty luck persisted and the door wrenched open, revealing the face of the anonymous man he’d seen in those pictures.
“. . . Oh.” He was staring. He knew he was staring. He should stop staring.
Dabi wasn’t what he was expecting. . . at all. The heavily scarred man narrowed cold blue eyes on him. “Fuck off. What is it, piss of the hermit day? You know those beware and no trespassing signs have words on them, they’re not for fucking decoration.”
Oh, good. He had a pleasant personality and was easy to talk to, then. Keigo flashed him one of his fake Hawks smiles, waving sheepishly. “Sorry about that! I couldn’t see them from the air!”
“Now you know. Get out.” He moved to slam the door, Keigo catching it with his palm.
“Hey! Not even going to hear what I have to say?”
“If it’s not a, ‘sorry, wrong address’ then I don’t want to hear shit from you. Actually, I don’t fucking care anyway, so let’s skip to you leaving.” He snapped. Wow, Nedzu was going to have a fun time trying to clean up his language.
Keigo had to push back at the door as the witch tried to slam it again. He shouldered his way inside. “You know, I’m not here for a social visit, I can’t just-” He stopped dead two feet in the door, blinking away his surprise. “What’s the fucking Emperor’s Coven doing here?” Shit. He hoped that wasn’t as aggressive to them as it was to him. The glare he received from the Emperor’s nephew suggested otherwise.
His charge didn’t even flinch, however. Weird, he expected some loyalty to his Emperor, or something. “I don’t know. Take them with you when you go.”
“We’re here,” The Emperor’s nephew said, the distinctive grey-blue hair and weird hand mask that was strapped to his side a dead giveaway to who he was. His personal guard, some unholy shadow monster thing, probably a demon but it was hard to tell with his ears covered by smog, hovered nearby. He didn’t know much about witch politics, but even he knew that much about the current reigning power. “To offer a place among the Emperor’s coven. I’d advise you take it.”
Dabi leveled an impervious stare on The Golden Guard, letting the words hang for a moment. Then, eloquently. “Fuck you.”
“Rethink it.” The other snapped, voice scratchy as he took a step closer, as if trying to intimidate Dabi. It hardly worked when the guy was stick thin and a few inches shorter than the wild witch. Dabi still looked utterly unimpressed. “Your crimes against the crown will be forgiven. If you refuse, then next time we come here it will be with handcuffs.”
“Not interested.” Dabi waved him off as if the second-highest-ranking member of all the Isles were nothing more than a pesky fly. “And I’m not scared of you or your uncle. You come after me, I will win. Watch yourself, asshole.”
“Perhaps the person without the army should be a bit more. . . sensible.” Red eyes narrowed, burning with a childish temper. “It’s be a shame to destroy such a nice patch of land.”
“Plants regrow. Your bones won’t.”
Keigo frowned. “But bones. . . do heal?”
“Not if they’re charred enough.” Dabi turned away, as if having the enemy at his back were completely unconcerning. “I have nothing to say to you or your Emperor. Now get out and stay out.”
The Golden Guard glared at his back, simmering silently. When the tension ramped to its peak he finally whirled away, white cloak billowing around him dramatically. “Come, Kurogiri. We’ll have to find a more. . . persuasive approach.”
Keigo frowned, watching the two make for the door, the Emperor’s nephew shoving past him and never sparing him a look. Typical witch. The silent shadow nodded politely as he passed, furthering Keigo’s theory that he was a demon of some sort. He turned back to Dabi, barely catching the witch casting an unreadable look briefly towards the entourage. It was over as soon as the door clicked shut.
“. . . Ah, sorry for the bad timing.”
“You here with an offer too? Amnesty for, what, aiding your demon friends in some ritual?” Dabi rolled his eyes, mixing a few potions together. Keigo had no idea what he was doing, alchemy wasn’t really used by demons.
“I am, actually.” He started slow.
It didn’t help, Dabi scoffed derisively. “And you can fuck off with it, too.”
“Nedzu extends an offer for you to be his personal student.” He said instead. Arguing would get them nowhere, and Nedzu would somehow know if he didn’t at least try.
“I don’t know who the fuck that is, but tell them I said to piss off.” Dabi’s brow twitched irritably. “And that their mother’s a whore.”
He didn’t know who Nedzu was? That was odd - everyone recognized Nedzu. He was the Number One demon hero or anything, that was Keigo’s own title, but he was still infamous. Keigo scowled and tried to decide whether or not Dabi was just being impudent, stepping closer and brushing aside more brightly colored potions that hung from the ceiling in a very likely unsafe way. They clinked and bumped together quietly, rope tethers swaying. “He’s the new principal of UA, and he wants to make you the first wild witch hero.”
That earned him a scoff so patronizing it made his feathers ruffle indignantly. “Oh? The first wild witch hero? Go back to bed and keep dreaming.”
“Okay, I hear you, but-” Keigo tried again. He got a dry glare for all his effort. “-Nedzu’s persistent. He’s going to keep sending people to bother you.”
“Why?” The scarred man rolled his eyes. “I already said I wasn’t fucking interested. Why can’t you find someone else?”
“You’re the only wild witch around here with any sort of power or standing, I guess. He wants to make a show of everyone being equal.”
Dabi turned to him, eyes spitting flames at him. His entire body had grown tense, as if he took particular offense to that. “I’m not some circus animal to be shown off, and I don’t jump through hoops for anyone. Find some other symbol of equality, I’m not here to make the HPSC look like they think we’re equals.”
“I wasn’t sent by the-”
“Oh, save it,” The other snapped. “Whether they’ve sent you or not, all you’re doing is giving them good PR. I’m no one's headline.”
“Uh, you’re on a lot of headlines, actually,” Keigo murmured, thinking back to the file he’d been given after accepting the mission. It still held little information, but the newspapers had been wild. Local wild witch burned down a statue of the Emperor. Wild witch seen fleeing after the local stables had been opened, releasing all the beast keeper’s creatures. Wild witch set someone on fire after being caught swindling and conning the tourists, again. Each headline felt like a roller coaster in and of itself as it listed his various crimes. Typically swindling, stealing, and arson, but occasionally he’d be spotted running from some other crimes. His face was never caught in those pictures, either.
“Yeah, but that’s not for them. I do that shit for me.” The witch huffed, making Keigo’s lips quirk up at the edges.
He leaned forwards a bit amiably. “I know I’m supposed to be here convincing you to come to the light or whatever, but I gotta say I respect the hustle. I’ve never been a fan of the Emperor’s laws much, either.”
“Laws, what laws?” Dabi snorted, turning back and pulling out a pot and dropping a few herbs and vegetables in it here and there. “I heard he had a few suggestions and I made the conscious choice to not listen to them.”
“Ah, right, of course. What’re you making, anyway? A potion of invisibility? A vile of liquid gold? An elixir of friendship?” Keigo asked, watching him pour water, or some sort of broth, maybe, into it.
“An elixir of friendship?” Dabi sounded somewhere between disgusted and offended, which was rather apt for his apparently reclusive personality. “No, dumbass, and what do you think you’re doing? Aren’t you supposed to be talking me into this whole ‘hero’ thing? If you’re done, can you leave?”
“Supposed to, but you said no a few times already. Offers out there, I did my part. Now I just gotta stick around long enough for Nedzu to not hound me for not trying hard enough.” Keigo elected to not answer the last question. Not that it mattered, Dabi seemed oddly okay with getting distracted.
“How would he even fucking know?”
Keigo laughed. “You really don’t know Nedzu, huh? Trust me, he’d know.”
Dabi shot a weird look his way, tossing in a few mushrooms. They looked natural, Keigo thought, like he’d picked them from the forest. He tilted his head curiously. “So what are you making? Something evil? Something deadly? Are you cursing the forest, or something? What’s all these plants for?”
“. . . Stew.” He shot Keigo a long look. “For dinner.”
“Oh.” He responded awkwardly. “I was expecting. . .”
“What? You were expecting me to make weapons constantly?” Dabi looked faintly amused now. “I don’t do that in front of the enemy. And you realize witches have to eat too, right? I’m wild, not immortal.”
He felt a little bad about it now. “I guess that makes sense. It just seems like a lot for one person.”
“Leftovers.” He grunted, not looking up as he moved the pot over and started a small, blue fire under it. Just like the fire from burning the Emperor’s statue. “Can you get out, now? I have plans.”
“Plans? What the fuck do you do all day, if not making mysterious and deadly weapons?” He might have been trying to distract him a bit. A few extra seconds, just to be sure Nedzu wouldn’t say anything.
“I said I didn’t make them in front of you, not I don’t make them. And mysterious witchy shit.”
“You’re going to set a building on fire, aren’t you?”
“What I do in my freetime is my business. Get out before I decide to set you on fire, birdie. I’ve put up with you longer than I should’ve.”
He grimaced. “Okay, yeah, yeah, I’m going. Keep your hat on.” Dabi cast a dry look at him over the stereotype, looking distinctly more ready to light him on fire. Best to get out quick, then. “Later then, witch.”
“I hope not.” Dabi muttered, and Keigo ignored him, making his way to the door. One more trip to Nedzu’s and he could go home for the night, thank the stars.
He took off before the door even swung closed.
“Nedzu-” Keigo groaned, flopping back into the chair. It was a dark leather and uncomfortable with his wings, but he just wanted to get out of here. Nedzu, of course, would not make it easy on him.
“I said I’d help you if you helped me. I’m still willing to honor our agreement if you do, too.”
“I only said I’d try.”
“You said you’d try, but I said I’d help you when he agreed to become a hero.”
“Why?” He whined, thinking back to the aggressive brunette. He didn’t much like witches, but he did sympathize with the man. He didn’t really want to be Nedzu’s circus monkey, either, but it was seeming more and more like he was going to be one whether he liked it or not. “Why can’t you choose some other wild witch? He said no.”
“Because I do.” He took a long sip of his tea, considering Keigo. “I need Dabi on my team, Hawks. Give me Dabi, and I’ll find them for you.”
Keigo glared at the rat for a long moment. He’d made deals with Nedzu before, he knew there was no winning unless Nedzu won. Shoving himself up, he headed for the door, holding his wings up as if they could block him from Nedzu’s schemes.
“Ah, Hawks. I have complete confidence in your abilities. I wouldn’t have hired you if I didn’t.” Nedzu called as he opened the door. Keigo threw a look over his shoulder.
“I never said I’d do it.”
“But you will.” Nedzu smiled at him.
Turning, Keigo let the door swing shut as he made his way out of the cursed witches’ school for the second time that day.
Dabi waited a few minutes to be sure everyone was actually gone. Letting out a deep, tired breath, he leaned on the counter over the stew. “Okay, you won.”
Immediately a shadow crossed the edges of his vision. “When hiding or seeking such foul beings, games of shadows made just for me, for finding what’s lost is harder said than done; no question remains - ‘Tis I, who’s won!”
Letting out a soft laugh, he turned to the child. Green eyes flashed mischievously, the boy floating above his head. He bumped against some of his hanging potions but didn’t seem to notice as he dangled there, eyes glowing. It wasn’t often he stayed in this form - Izuku was rather fond of his shadow creature status.
“Yeah, you did. You did really good, I couldn’t find you at all.” He smiled softly, feeling the way his scars pulled.
“Praise from you I do not need, by my own hand, I will succeed!” Izuku laughed in a very showy way, like he was a supervillain.
“Of course you will,” Dabi agreed, watching the boy start poking at a tapestry of a griffin fighting a dragon. His hand turned to shadow, disappearing into the fabric and rearranging the ink. When it came out, the tapestry was of a phoenix under an eclipse. A small sun was to the left and a mini moon on the right. “That was a fun game, but why don’t we sit down and eat? I’m sure you’re hungry.”
“Food?” Izuku asked, eyes dropping to the pot he was heating up. Then he jolted, eyes darting off to the wooden rafters he hung his potions from. “Ah, wait- Hungry is one thing I-”
Dabi laughed, interrupting the coming rhyme. “Okay, okay, I get it, you’re good at rhyming. Now sit down while I get you a bowl.”
The boy chirped excitedly, dropping down criss-cross applesauce on the couch while Dabi went to dish out two bowls for them. He wished he could’ve lit the assholes on fire to get rid of them faster, ancestors spare him, if they’d found Izuku-
Well, at least that didn’t happen. It could have been nothing, but it also could have gone terribly, so it was best he counted his blessings. Hopefully the winged bastard didn’t return - he’d not wanted to leave and Izuku only had so much patience, even for hide and seek.
Setting down one bowl in front of Izuku, he took his own seat next to the boy. “Be careful, it’s still hot.”
“Mhm.” He agreed, ignoring the warning and grabbing the bowl anyway. Dabi huffed, but didn’t say anything - Izuku was fireproof, so he was probably heat resistant, too. “You said we could do anything I wanted if I won, right, Dabi, right? Anything?”
He sighed, the smile coming back. “Yeah, shadeling. What do you want to do?”
Izuku perked up. “Shadow tag, shadow tag!” He cried excitedly, almost spilling the stew over himself while Dabi reached out to catch the bowl real quick, stabilizing it and only getting a sharp, playful laugh in return. Damn thing - what had Dabi’s life come to? Divine babysitter had not been his goal.
Still, he couldn’t help but not regret the choices that led him here. The bad ones, the good ones, the irritations and worry that Izuku brought. If he lost any of that, this life wouldn’t feel like his. Fate was an accident of design, as Izuku would say, whatever the hell that meant.