Chapter Text
Aizawa just wanted to take a damn nap.
He adjusted his position on the rooftop he sat on, his joints getting a bit stiff. Today was supposed to be his day off, but Hizashi just 𝘩𝘢𝘥 to take the day off. He sighed. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, he thought, sighing. He scanned the streets. The neighborhood he was monitoring was on the poorer side of town, quite a few of the buildings falling apart. A lot of the area was zoned to be torn down and replaced with higher-quality buildings. As he looked over to a particularly rickety building, he saw blue flames spark up. He jumped down right away. He would recognize that azure fire anywhere. 𝘋𝘢𝘣𝘪.
The Villain dodged almost immediately as Aizawa sent his scarf forward, still landing a small scratch on his cheek. Dabi landed on his feet. "Nice shot, Eraser," he said, sass lacing his rough voice. The building was now consumed by his cerulean blaze, and the smoke made Aizawa's throat hurt. He tried to activate his Quirk, but smoke kept him from keeping his eyes open. Even being a few yards away from the fire was making him sweat. He grabbed his goggles from around his neck.
"I'm taking you in, Dabi."
The patchwork man cackled, flames licking his neck. "Sure you will, pretty boy." He sent a broad wave of fire at Aizawa. The Hero's reaction was instant. He sent his scarf up to a fire escape and pulled himself up and out of the flames' range. He put on his goggles with the pause of action, protecting them from smoke.
𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘵. How Dabi managed to wave them around so easily was beyond him. He felt like he would get burned just getting near them. He balanced himself on the fire escape, looking for an opening. Dabi summoned more fire in his hands. Now that Aizawa was out of the way of the flames, he activated Erasure. The fire disappeared in Dabi's hand, although the surrounding blazes that he had let go of control of continued to rage. He swore violently.
Aizawa sent his capture scarf forward. The Villain managed to sidestep in time, but his right wrist still got wrapped up in stiff white fabric. Aizawa tugged it, drawing Dabi in. He hooked an arm around a streetlamp to resist. Although Dabi looked scrawny, he was pretty strong. Aizawa maneuvered his scarf to try to wrap more of Dabi up, but it left a brief moment where it was loosened. The Villain slipped through and ducked into an empty building, out of Aizawa's reach.
He blinked, his eyes beginning to burn. "Dammit." Neither of them were good in melee, Aizawa's Quirk being unsuited for it and Dabi being trained for long-range capabilities, but if they were to face off in close quarters, it would be a matter of speed. If Dabi managed to get his fire out before Aizawa could erase his Quirk, there was no way he could win, especially inside a building. The Villain had created the perfect scenario for himself, and Aizawa just had to walk in. This road was empty of actual residents, though there might be some squatters, so it was unlikely he had any hostages.
He surveyed the building. No back entrance or windows. It was a small, almost cabin-like home made of rotting wood. It looked like it should have about a billion safety violations on it. The perfect place for the Villain to trap him in an oven of blue flame. It would be stupid to enter, but it wasn't as if he could leave Dabi be. Aizawa sighed. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘫𝘰𝘣.
He jumped down from his spot on the fire escape and stood in the doorway of the building, ready to take away Dabi's Quirk at the slightest movement.
"Daddy!" the voice of a little boy giggled.
Aizawa froze. There was a 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 here? He rushed over, the situation changed. He needed to save the hostage and-
Dabi was frozen, a young boy wrapping his skinny arms around the Villain's neck. He looked even more confused than Aizawa at the sudden affection, looking unsure. He glanced at Aizawa and bit his lip. He didn't seem to be a threat to the child, at least. Aizawa approached cautiously, still not trusting the Villain.
Dabi put an awkward arm around the boy. "Uh... hey, kid. You alright?"
"Yeah! Let's go home, Daddy!" The kid was small, probably six years old at most. His hair was messy and black, and a little shiny. He had heterochromia, one eye blue and one yellow, and slitted pupils that reminded Aizawa of a lizard or a dragon. He had two small yellow horns coming out of his forehead, and a few freckles framed his pale cheeks. He had dirt smeared in various spots, and his clothes looked unwashed.
He furrowed his brow, pulling away from the boy's embrace. "What're you talking about?"
"C'mon!"
Aizawa finally crouched down next to the child. He scampered closer to Dabi, seeming shy. He scrunched up his face, seeming to concentrate, before looking back at Aizawa. Dabi patted the kid's head, starting to get a handle on things.
"Yeah, right, home. Where's... Mommy?" Dabi's face changed a bit at the word, seeming almost sad. It put a strange weight in Aizawa's chest. 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮...
The kid tilted his head. "What?"
Before Dabi could get another sentence out, Aizawa asked, "What's your name?" He tried to keep his voice nice and soft, but it felt a little unnatural.
The boy shook his head. "Don't have one."
Dabi and Aizawa looked at each other, silently creating a temporary truce. "Alright, kid, we'll head home soon," Dabi said, trying to take control of the situation. "I have a really important job for you. Can you handle it?"
The kid nodded very seriously. "Yes, Daddy, sir."
Aizawa couldn't help but chuckle a tiny bit at that.
"I lost my good luck charm on my way here," Dabi said, offering a smile. "I saw a patch of clovers outside. Can you try finding a four-leaf one for me?"
The kid nodded again. "Yep!" He bolted out the door to the clover patch.
"Care to explain what that was?" Aizawa said once he was out of earshot.
Dabi shook his head. "I wish I could tell you. I would say he mistook me for his old man, but..." He pointed at his face. "Don't exactly have a common look."
That was true. Even ignoring the scars, his features were graceful, the kind that would make someone pause on the street. His turquoise eyes were striking as well. The softer beauty of his face created a great contrast with the roughness of the scars and-
𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘌𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘳? Aizawa looked away from the Villain, feeling his face heat up a little bit. "That's true," he said, hoping Dabi hadn't noticed him staring.
"Our best bet is probably trying to find the mom then, right? If he has one, at least."
"𝘖𝘶𝘳?" Aizawa asked. "What makes you think I won't just push you onto the police? That's where the kid should go, anyways."
Dabi rolled his eyes. "If the cops don't find his parents within a few days, he'll get shoved onto the Commission. You really want that?"
Aizawa grimaced. He avoided contact with the Hero Public Safety Commission when possible; He didn't like how they viewed his students as soldiers for this war between Villains and Heroes rather than the kids they were. That had been one of the reasons he had pushed so hard to get custody over Eri. "Okay, no, but running our own investigation could take months, and the Commission'll realize that I'm keeping another kid around in that time..." Aizawa rubbed his temples, feeling a migraine coming on.
"I'll hold onto him, then."
Aizawa stared at the Villain. "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵?"
He shrugged. "I have experience with kids, and I have my own apartment, so you don't have to worry about him staying with the League..."
"Why?"
"Huh?"
"Why would you take him?" Aizawa frowned skeptically. "Experience or no, you don't seem like the kid-loving type. You trying to get a hostage?"
He snorted. "If I wanted to do that, I would've already."
"What's your angle, Dabi?"
A strange emotion Aizawa couldn't place flared in Dabi's eyes. "I'm not letting another kid get crushed by the fucking Commission." He got up and dusted himself off.
𝘈𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳?
"You'll catch flies if you keep your mouth open like that, Eraser." Dabi rolled his eyes. "Guess we'll have to postpone that battle until after the kid's all cozy with his parents." He began towards the door, but paused. "Oh, one more thing. If the parents turn out to be assholes, I'm not letting you put the kid back in a bad house." He went outside to the kid, leaving Aizawa speechless.
"Daddy! Daddy!" The little boy launched himself at Dabi, clutching onto his leg like a sloth.
"Hey, kid." Dabi patted his head, a familiar feeling creeping in his chest.
"𝘛𝘰𝘶-𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯, 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬!"
Dabi shook his head, snapping himself out of the memory. Now wasn't the time. He tried to give the boy a smile. He might have helped with his siblings when he was younger, but with the way his face was, no kid would approach him. He was out of practice. He was surprised this child had even talked to him, much less grabbed onto him like that.
"You need a name," he found himself saying.
The boy's mouth made an O-shape. "I know, my name can be Cool Boy!"
"...no," Aizawa said from the doorway.
The kid pouted. "Awww..."
"Gotta go with the Hero on this one." Dabi chuckled. He looked the boy over. His eyes were twin flames of hope, and his slitted pupils and horns gave him a dragon-like appearance. "How do you like... Ryuuji?"
The boy thought for a second. "Ry...uu...ji." He grinned. "Ryuuji! Ryuuji! It sounds happy!"
"𝘛𝘰𝘶-𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭!"
𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘱, he wanted to say to the memory -- just a damn ghost at this point.
Aizawa walked over and offered a hand to Ryuuji. "Ryuuji it is, then. My name's Aizawa."
"Ahizaa?" Ryuuji said, struggling to pronounce it.
He frowned. "𝘈𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘸𝘢."
"Aisaba?"
Aizawa sighed. "No."
"Papa," Ryuuji declared.
"𝘕𝘰."
Dabi smirked a bit. "C'mon, give the kid a break, 𝘗𝘢𝘱𝘢."
"I hate you," Aizawa muttered, rubbing his face.
"Don't be mean to Daddy!" Ryuuji yelped, sounding offended.
Dabi picked up Ryuuji, holding him just like he used to hold Shouto those nights when Endeavor had been too rough and- 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘪𝘵, 𝘋𝘢𝘣𝘪. "Don't worry about him, Ryuuji. He's cranky."
"Why?"
"Because that's what happens when grown-ups don't drink coffee." He adjusted Ryuuji's position a bit, and he snuggled him. 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐'𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮. "Why don't you take a nap on our way home?" It was a waste of breath to ask, however; the child had already fallen asleep against Dabi's chest.
"𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵-𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘛𝘰𝘶-𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯. 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶."
As Aizawa followed Dabi to his apartment, he noticed the Villain looked rather pale. "Are you sick?"
Dabi blinked, almost seeming as though he was coming out of a trance. "Hm?"
Aizawa repeated his question, a little annoyed.
"Naw, nothing like that. Just an old memory." He shrugged.
Aizawa tilted his head. "A memory?" For the first time, he considered what kind of life the Villain might've had. What had given him so many scars? What made him so driven? What made him look so empty most of the time, but made his eyes spark up at the strangest times?
As if sensing the direction of his thoughts, Dabi smirked and said, "Didn't you know? Villains gotta go through a special certification exam and the tragic backstory portion is one of the most heavily graded portions. You ain't enough of a sob story, you gotta go back to being a back alley thug."
Aizawa rolled his eyes. "𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘦." Despite the fact he didn't want to care about the Villain, a little concern tugged at his mind. He knew what kinds of havoc trauma could do to someone's brain.
"It wasn't a bad one, necessarily."
The teacher startled. "Is your Quirk actually fucking mind-reading?"
Dabi clicked his tongue. "Yup. And my Quirk's telling me you're into me." It was clearly said teasingly, but a little heat pushed up into Aizawa's cheeks. He angled his head so his long hair would block Dabi's view. 𝘎𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.
"Nevermind. Your Quirk's being self-centered," he jabbed back.
For a moment, he was a little worried Dabi would try to burn him for that one, but instead he cackled. Aizawa startled at the sound of his laughter. It was rough and a little harsh, but oddly pleasing. "Maybe this truce'll be fun, pretty boy."