Chapter Text
Shouto has read the same line over 4 times now but none of the words were wording.
In fact, he was sure he actually took out a math problem set an hour ago. How did he end up with his hero ethics textbook open, he was not quite sure.
A walk. He needed a walk.
Not as if intensely staring at the books would make the information diffuse into his brain anyways. Without a second thought, Shouto closed his books and made his way down to the forested area just behind their dorms.
The shade provided by the trees was nice, it shielded Shouto from the glaring rays of the 4 o’clock sun. There was an occasional breeze that created a soft rustle of leaves and at times Shouto picked up the sound of birds chirping nearby too.
Shouto walks and walks and walks.
It has been a rather stressful school term, sports festival, villains, internship, career choices, staying alive and a certain green fluffy-haired boy. The green-haired boy was probably the biggest worry, Shouto has long been prepared that his career choice does not have a particularly long-life expectancy considering how dangerous it can be, he just so happens to have shit luck that the boy he kind of, really , isn’t, totally , definitely not, in love with is caught in the Center of all these catastrophic world-ending schemes. Midoriya was definitely the problem, yes. He has not told his mum about this. Even worse, he has not told his sister. Goodness, his sister. The perfect smile plastered on her face came to his mind sending a shiver down his iceproof spine. There were some forces in the world more terrifying than villains threatening to ruin society.
A loud honk was what snapped Shouto out of his thoughts. A car swerves past him as he almost walks off the pedestrian pavement onto the road. Shouto catches some incomprehensible angry shouting, but the car never bothered slowing down either, merely driving off.
Wait. When did his surroundings turn from trees into concrete buildings?
This was nowhere near UA. Shouto was walking on a street with what seemed to be rows and rows of concrete buildings that were vastly unfamiliar to him. He had left his dorm in the afternoon but looking up, the sky was already dark. The street lamps were what illuminated his path and there was no other soul in sight.
“Ah!”
An audible gasp snaps Shouto’s head to the left, down an alleyway sandwiched between two awfully rundown buildings.
“Mmmfff…I-... Tou..ya… no…” The words came out broken.
Touya? That was a name Shouto has not heard in a long time.
Shouto quietly draws closer.
There were two figures. One pressing onto the other. It was hard to make out much of their features, the street lighting failed to filter into many of these small alleyways but there was just enough light to make out a pair of wings. The person being pushed against the wall had what seemed like a pair of large birdlike wings.
“Not so bold now huh, pretty bird?” Shouto could feel the smirk in that distinctively low male voice. That voice was familiar as well.
“Touya…” What now clearly sounded like breathy moans were swallowed by the smacking of lips and little whines.
Okay. Shouto stumbled onto something he did not need to hear, see or know, it was time he made his exit. Shouto was about to turn tail and bolt when his shoe makes unfortunate contact with something on the ground. The sound of glass clattering against hard concrete echoed through the alleyway as a beer bottle rolled at his feet.
Shit.
The two figures froze that much was clear with the deafening silence that followed. Shouto was about to run when he felt something rush at him much too fast for him to even react.
“Do not move.” Those words came out more like a growl.
Shouto felt the sharp blade threatening to pierce the skin of his neck, he dares to even look at it to only find a long red feather pointed at him.
Red feathers?
There was only one person Shouto knew who had red feathers that could become blades.
It was then the dark alleyway was illuminated, bright blue flames provided more than enough light to reveal hawks and… Dabi?!
“Hawks?!?!” Shouto could not believe his eyes.
“Todoroki?!” Hawks pretty much squeaked as he scampered to push the villain currently pressed against him away. The feather pressed against Shouto’s neck quickly zipped back to Hawk’s wings. Dabi too was in shock, so shocked that the villain’s eyebrows had disappeared into his hairline as his eyes went wide.
“I- We- This is not what it seems!” Hawk’s gestures wildly at Dabi and himself. “I was about to apprehend him! Yeah, that! Cause I am a hero and I catch villains! Yes! He villain, I hero.”
The number two pro hero fails to suppress his nervous laughter.
“Blue flames…” Shouto whispers to himself. “He called you Touya…”
“Touya-nii?” Shouto tries those words for the first time in a long while.
For a moment, Shouto could have sworn there was a flash of fear that flicked in Dabi’s eyes. He never would have believed the A ranked villain would ever show such an emotion, especially one that Shouto was used to seeing the villain’s sinister smile and burning eyes. But the fear was fleeting, quick to be replaced with a cold harsh glare. Hawk's gaze shifts between Shouto and Dabi concerned and uncertain.
“What nonsense are you sprouting kid?” The villain’s flames grew brighter with that threat, ready to attack.
But to the surprise of everyone, Shouto throws all caution to the wind and throws himself at Dabi. He gave Dabi no time to react as Shouto wraps his arms around the other man’s torso.
“What the fuck get off me!” Dabi shoves at Shouto attempting to pry the boy off.
“Try to burn me all you want.” Shouto’s voice comes out much more choked than expected.
Tears were already slipping down his cheeks as he pressed his face into the villain's clothes. There were no flames, no burning, stabbing, punching, or retaliating. Dabi just stood there, and those bright blue flames eventually were eventually extinguished. Shouto could feel the older man take in a shaky breath as a tentative hand rested on Shouto’s hand.
“I am sorry Sho.” Dabi petted the back of his head and Shouto cried harder, clinging tighter to his oldest brother.
It took a couple of minutes for Shouto to stop crying and a couple more for Shouto to completely calm down.
“You done wiping your snot on me yet kiddo?” Dabi ruffles Shouto’s hair affectionately, it created an overwhelming sense of Deja Vu.
“I just found out my dead oldest brother is not dead, cut me some slack.” Shouto pulls away from Dabi unapologetic to the large wet spot on the villain’s black shirt. “You totally owe me for being dead for ten years and kidnapping my friend and trying to kill me and not doing chores.”
“Kidnapping? Since when? Oh… that angry Pomeranian kid. Well, we returned him in one piece, and you are not dead.”
“You aren’t even apologetic about the chores, you know that was literally the worse part. I am telling Fuyumi-neesan” Shouto says void of emotion. He catches the panic that starts to arise in his older brother.
“You wouldn’t dare.” Dabi looks right into Shouto’s eyes, cerulean blue meeting challenging mismatched blue and brown.
“I dare.” Shouto whips out his phone and slides it open. “Payback for having me witness you get hot and heady with Mr Number two pro hero over there.”
Hawks choked on air and Dabi’s lips turn into a sneer. “You hellion.”
Dabi was ready to tackle his younger brother and snatch that phone out of Shouto’s hands when Shouto’s stomach chooses this time to make itself known, it’s grumble reverberating through the dingy alleyway. A pregnant silence once more fell between the three of them.
“Dabs let’s get dinner I am starving!” Hawks throws an arm around Dabi’s shoulders, the arsonist does not even flinch at the contact. “What would you like to eat Shouto? I hope you don’t mind me calling you by your first name since both of you are Todorokis and the cat is out of the bag.”
“Um-”
“I know a good soba place near here” Dabi cuts off Shouto before he could even speak.
“How’d you know?”
“I used to make it for you all the time when you were younger, it’s your favorite.” Dabi casually slots his fingers into Hawk’s, Shouto is not sure if he can get used to this.
“How did you end up on the other side of town anyways kiddo, aren’t you supposed to be at UA?” The three pull up at a tiny soba joint, quite literally, in a hole of a wall of a random building complex.
Shouto shrugged his shoulders, “I needed to take a walk.”