Archive of Our Own

It was the time of the year again when the dreary atmosphere in the house reached glacial levels, which meant that it became rather common to slip on a random tile of ice on the kitchen floor.

Shouto just had time to let out a surprised, “Ah,” when he fell sideways. His body met the floor with a loud thud. Natsuo gazed around the corner, spotting his brother face-down on the floor.

“Want to get up anytime soon?”

A muffled, “No,” came back. He did not move in any way and continued lying there. Well then.

“Shame it was you and not Endeavor,” Natsuo complained. He grabbed a soda from the fridge and unsympathetically stepped over the prone body of Shouto. Fuyumi greeted him in the living room. She guarded a cup of tea like it was her lifeline and Natsuo was too scared to ask if it was just tea or something stronger as a distinct smell hit his nose.

“Shouto?” She enquired immediately after he plopped down. Various snacks were laid out on the coffee table from which Natsuo grabbed a few.

He shrugged, “He’s having an existential crisis on the kitchen floor.”

Fuyumi nodded, saying nothing more. The conversation was interrupted by a poorly timed advertisement on the TV. Endeavor’s flaming beard and unimpressed frown greeted them.

Natsuo gulped down his can in one go.

“I still don’t understand why they use his scary mug in ads.”

“Well, he’s trying to be more friendly,” Fuyumi tried to defend their father. “No child cried in his vicinity for the last two days. That is an improvement.” 

“And I should care?” he grumbled.

Soft footsteps announced an incoming Shouto. He walked into the room with a calm expression and acted like he didn’t faceplant a few minutes ago. Fuyumi and Natsuo had to stifle a laugh since some small shards of ice hung determinedly in his hair and parts of his forehead were an angry red.

Shouto joined them on the couch and instantly made a face when he saw Endeavor’s advertisement.

Luckily, the ad was over before more protests could arise. The next few were so random that the siblings spent the next few minutes laughing as Kamui Woods promoted gardening supplies-

“Does he use the hoe as a comb or did he mean using it for an actual garden? Wait, is fertilizer like moisturizer for him? Oh my god, I have so many questions.”

“…I have never thought about it and I regret the thought so much.”

- Laundry Hero: Wash excitedly promoted his detergents, which had Fuyumi nodding since they were quite nice only to facepalm because of Shouto’s next words-

“Is he washing stuff inside his costume as well? Is it a functioning washing machine or just fake?”

“The better question is whether it’s his actual body or a costume.”

“…”

- and finally, the last advertisement started before the actual show started playing. 

The three siblings blinked when the screen got all woozy with smoke and effects when suddenly a woman appeared on the screen. Flamboyant purple robes covered her body and some badly animated tarot cards and a suspiciously blinking crystal ball filled the background. Natsuo snorted when the lady started chanting and proclaimed herself to be the owner of the third eye.

“Do you miss your deceased loved ones? Do you want to reassure your consciousness about their sudden and not suspicious parting from the world of the living? Do you want to ask where they hid the bank key or make them postmortem sign a document? Worry no more, I got you.”

She waved her arms around and some more special effects turned the foggy room even more clouded.

“Come to me and I will help you with all of your problems,” she finished with a mysterious smile that just screamed scammer.

Her telephone number appeared next and Shouto, in partial hero mode, noted that no location was shown while the number looked suspiciously like the one that called their house at random times to talk them into buying brooms and wooden baskets. Shouto fell for it once and never again.

“That was just badly done. One out of ten for effort,” Natuso said. “Who would fall for that?”

Fuyumi sighed, “Some can’t spot the scam, especially since a topic like contacting the deceased is something many wish for. In the age of quirks, who knows, maybe someone can contact them?”

While the siblings were peacefully insulting the bad special effects of the advertisement, Shouto was deep in thought.

“I’d like to contact the dead,” Shouto muttered, not realizing that his siblings could hear him. His older brother stopped laughing at a comedic scene on the show and gazed at him strangely. Fuyumi gripped her tea cup tightly.

“This is not real, Shouto. She is just trying to scam you.”

Shouto shook his head. “I know that. What I meant is that I want to try and contact Touya-nii in another way. Maybe he’ll answer?” The hopeful and raw tone in his voice pulled at the other two’s heartstrings. It wasn’t like they never entertained the thought of contacting their deceased brother.

Fuyumi used to imagine that a fairy would visit her, promising to fulfill her greatest wish like the fairy godmother in her favorite fairy tale did. A puff of smoke later and her older brother would be back. He would jump in surprise and look at her with kind, sparkling blue eyes.

She blinked back burning tears at the memory of Touya. Natsuo stayed quiet, his gaze was far off and his mind had wandered to a past where he and Touya would hide under a blanket and share their greatest secrets. Well, whatever great secrets a bunch of kids that didn’t even hit the double-digits had.

He remembered fondly an occasion when his kid-self colored Fuyumi's favorite teddy’s eyes in a gaudy green, making her cry and scream. It ended with Touya voluntarily taking the blame even though it was Natuso who did the deed.

“What do you mean, Shouto?” Her voice shook as she asked her youngest brother. He slowly blinked at her, realizing she was not immediately denying or objecting to the thought.

“Not the scammer. But we could maybe research and try some safe methods?”

“What do you define as safe?” Natuso dryly countered.

Shouto thought about it. “Not burning down the house?” He sounded unsure which amused Natsuo. Fuyumi sighed once more.

“I really hope you don’t run around with those priorities on the field,” she muttered but continued before Shouto could defend his work ethic. “We can try contacting Touya-nii but only as long as the methods are safe for everyone involved, the house stays intact after we finish which also means that no permanent dyes will be used, and I want it done before Father comes back.”

She left no room for objections. The two boys looked at each other, contemplated a bit, and nodded when they couldn’t think about anything that would oppose Fuyumi’s points.

“How about we give each other a week to organize and think up a plan?” Fuyumi proposed.

“Works for me, “ Natsuo said. Shouto nodded silently and mentally already started a list. He would ask the internet later on how to summon the dead. Someone must have an idea. He was sure of that. Maybe some of his classmates could also help? Didn’t Kaminari recently complain about killing zombies?

Zombies are dead bodies and while Shouto would prefer to meet his brother’s spirit, it would still be a win to summon his body as well.

The three siblings spent the rest of the day enjoying trash TV and eating food that Endeavor would certainly not approve of before Shouto had to get back to his dormitory. Most of his classmates were already there or never left in the first place.

Tucked behind a corner, Shouto spotted Kaminari and bee-lined toward him. His abrupt arrival and intense gaze startled the electric teen. He had enough time to grab his gaming controller before it went flying into the flower pot next to him.

“Hi?” Kaminari greeted Shouto, hesitantly and mostly confused.

“How do I summon the dead?” Shouto directly asked.

“…what?” He wasn’t the only one confused. Sitting next to him were Jirou and Kirishima. The latter choked on his drink, coughing mightily to get rid of the water blocking his airways.

“How do I summon the dead?” Shouto repeated. Bakugou, who heard the commotion and came over, snorted, “What?! Did you kill someone?” The temperamental teen used his usual volume, which naturally meant that the rest of class 1A heard his words.

“No,” Shouto impassively objected, “I just want to summon someone who has been dead for some years.”

“Explain properly!” Bakugou shouted.

“Like in a video game?” Kaminari hesitantly asked, hoping that his classmate didn’t actually commit murder without properly planning on how to dispose of the body.

“No,” came Shouto’s deadpan reply. “You talked about zombies a while ago. The internet says that those are the bodies of the dead that were reanimated. You seem like you know about stuff like that. I promise I won’t judge you on your hobbies.” The solemn way he talked was highlighted by the honesty in his eyes, making Kaminari flounder since he didn’t know how to explain.

“I-hobby?”

Midoriya joined the group, blinking confused, and trying to make sense of the dual-colored teen's words.

“Do you want to talk with someone who passed away?” he hesitantly asked. The various gazes that were directed at him made him shriek. Shouto slowly nodded, elegantly ignoring the slightly alarming shade of red his classmate was turning.

Kaminari, having had enough time to somehow piece a situation together that didn’t involve breaking one of his classmates out of prison, leaned back and made a thoughtful face. “I played a horror game once that had Egyptian lore. One of the villains tried to summon the soul of a dead fellow villain,” he said carefully.

Shouto kept his attention on the other teen, staring him down with dual-colored eyes, making the other sweat.

“Do I need an intact body for that?”

“…?”

Bakugou, who was this close to erupting, snorted. “What, not even a corpse left? Didn’t know you had it in you.”

The taunt went straight over Shouto’s head and he truthfully answered, “I have a piece of his jawbone if we need a part of his body.”

Even Bakugou stayed silent. The whole group stared judgingly at Shouto, who owlishly blinked at them. “Is that enough?”

“I think so?” Midoriya offered hesitantly. “While a whole body would make the mummifying process easier, at least having a part of it could be enough. You just need to be thorough when embalming the bone.”

Kirishima jokingly joined in, “Yes, just like when we went as mummies on Halloween. Cover the whole thing in toilet paper and you’re good to go.” While his words were one hundred percent said in jest, Shouto -  once again – didn’t get the memo.

He whipped out a pen and wrote the instructions down.

Cover Nii-san’s bone in toilet paper. Which layer is the most promising?

Nii-san would prefer four-layered toilet paper, Shouto thought. It’s also the most expensive one and wasting more of Endeavor’s money should definitely heighten his chances of succeeding. He decided to buy what he needed a day before they summoned Touya.

“Do I need anything else?” he asked, staring at the others expectantly.

“Is he serious?” Bakugou whisper-shouted from the sideline. He even forgot to threaten the others with an early death via tons of explosions during the last few minutes. A new record.

Kaminari tried to remember the scene in the game. “I think he chanted something?” He rhythmically tapped his finger on the table.

“Ah, yes! I don’t know the exact words but the villain made ridiculous promises to the dead. I think it was something really dramatic like ‘I will give you the rotting bodies of your enemies as spoils of war!’ and ‘Help me take over the world and all the riches and quirks that you desire are yours to take!’” Kaminari dramatically retold, changing his voice to match what he imagined a soul-summoning villain would look like.

Jirou thought he kind of sounded like a wheezing grandpa, but didn’t comment.

Shouto seriously nodded, noting everything down.

Promise Nii-san various things that he’d like. Maybe help him burn the house down?

Shouto recalled various housefires during the time he was isolated from his siblings. When he asked about it, Father would make a face and say that Touya burned down the kitchen…once more.

Now, many years later, Shouto finally understood the brilliance of his brother. Even when young, his Nii-san understood where the best place in the house was to start a successful house fire.

Shouto admired him greatly and hoped to be just as smart and awesome as him.

Having collected everything he needed for the ritual, Shouto happily went to sleep. He left behind a collection of classmates who were divided between being concerned and wanting to know how it went.

Natsuo, a few kilometers away, sadly had less luck with his research.

The all-knowing god search machine, Google, had nothing to offer beyond some vaguely concerning rituals involving kitchen supplies, copious amounts of feathers, and - for some strange reason - mayonnaise. He shuddered and hastily noped out of that website.

The next one also didn’t bear fruit. And the one after traumatized him just a little bit. The last website he scouted piled so many advertisements onto him that he even forgot what the website was about.

With a heavy sigh, he leaned back in his chair, dangling on the hindlegs while trying to think up a method that allowed him to communicate with his brother. It was stupid, he knew that but what if it works? Also, it had been ages since he and his siblings did something fun together that didn’t involve soap opera shows and hiding fast food from Endeavor.

“What are you doing?” a voice asked behind him, startling Natsuo enough to almost fall over. He managed to catch himself on the edge of the table. When snickering reached him, Natsuo turned around and glared annoyed at the intruder.

One of his classmates took his disapproval as a reason to laugh even more. The other at least had the grace to sheepishly smile at him even though Natsuo could see the humor in his eyes. The two sat down at his table, pushing away his books and laptop to make space for food.

Natsuo pointedly looked at the “No beverages and food allowed” sign with a raised eyebrow. They ignored his well-meaning concern and started eating.

“What are you doing?” the first one repeated, although it sounded more like, “Wha a you ing?” since his mouth was filled to the brim with food. A growl from his own stomach reminded Natsuo that it had been a while since he ate.

With a shrug, Natsuo straight up told them, “Researching on how to raise the dead.” When one of them started choking, Natsuo gleefully smiled. Karma baby.

The other one, having had the wise thought of not eating yet, made a face. “I see. Just a question but concerning plausible deniability and all, how much further should I ask and when should I point the police or heroes toward you?”

The look Natsuo gave him spoke about how impressed he was.

Although, giving it a second thought, if Endeavor had to be called in to arrest his son for attempting necromancy with the unspoken knowledge that someone must have died beforehand to be successfully summoned, that would be quite a sight. Natsuo grinned but threw the thought away soon after. It wasn’t worth the scolding that would definitely follow.

“Nah, no crime to my name yet.” The ‘that you know of’ was left unsaid. One of his friends snorted at the ‘yet’.

“Then why?” 

There was no judgment in his voice, only curiosity. The question was valid, Natsuo concurred. Seeing no way out of it, he decided to answer. Maybe his movie-obsessed friends know a way to resurrect his brother without turning him into a brain-eating zombie?

“My little brother wants to summon my dead older brother as a family activity but I don’t know a method.”

“There are so many things wrong with that sentence, I don’t even know where to begin.”

Natsuo scowled, “Then don’t.”

His friend sighed long-sufferingly for the nth time that day.

How dramatic, Natsuo thought. Kind of reminded him of his little brother’s friends. The loud, explosive one that resembled a Pomeranian and the other, smaller one with a permanent panicky expression on his face.

“Well,” his friend started, “I don’t know much about legitimate techniques since summoning the dead isn’t a topic that many take joy in, but have you tried some tropes?”

The muttered, “Imagine your vengeful, evil grandmother rose from the grave. I’d join the dead the second I see her face in the realm of the living simply because she is walking amongst us, which means the dead are safe from her,” from their mutual friend gained some winces.

That made Natsuo think. His brother – bless his soul – wasn’t the friendliest of the lot. He may have smiled a lot and Natsuo would never doubt his love for them, but damn if Touya wasn’t a vindictive little shit on good days.

Natsuo remembered a time when the school handed out color books for Touya’s grade for an art project. His brother had to color some random pages every day with specific colors to showcase his mood. All Touya used was red and black with small hints of blue. 

But that wasn’t the problem, rather, he loudly proclaimed his enlightenment toward art which made their father happy since Touya found a hobby that didn’t involve roasting himself alive.

Endeavor regretted it soon after when he found their walls painted an eerie black with random blobs of red splattered amongst the sea of darkness. Touya called it modern art gleefully while Endeavor popped a vein.

Was it really a good idea to summon Touya? Especially since they’ll do it in the house Endeavor is living in.

His brother won’t turn into a poltergeist and torture them, right?

Right?

Natsuo was having major second thoughts about the whole thing. He almost missed his friend’s words amid the sudden crisis.

“How about voodoo?”

“What?”

“You know voodoo? The practice where you have a doll and use it to communicate with the dead amongst other things?”

Natuso blinked.

A doll? Oh, that was actually genius. He could summon Touya in a small, plushy doll that wouldn’t be able to harm anyone. This way, their house and probably Endeavor as well will survive. 

Of course, Natsuo is more concerned about his game collection than Endeavor’s impending doom.

“Voodoo has a bit more than that. Maybe try-“

Natsuo cut him off, “Nah, voodoo sounds good. I’ll try that.”

When his friend glowered at him and was getting ready to argue, Natsuo quickly interfered.

“By the way, you should finish your meal soon and hide the evidence. The overseer is making her rounds.”

Both paled and started shoveling food into their mouth, desperately trying to avoid the menacing eyes of the library overseer.

In a different part of the city, Fuyumi was teaching her class. The various elementary students cluttered around her classroom, enjoying the break with their childish vigor and sense of chaos and adventure.

Some took to painting and drew pretty, indistinguishable shapes onto papers. Fuyumi hoped that they wouldn’t ask her to guess what they drew as she had absolutely no idea. The last few tries ended with children crying and her hastily making an excuse.

However, this left her with nothing to do at the moment since it was a break period and involved no actual lessons.

Just as she was getting comfortable, a shout rang through the room. Fuyumi sprang up and made her way to a crying child in the back of the room. The little girl was full-out brawling, rubbing her eyes as big, fat tears rolled down her cheeks.

“What happened here?” Fuyumi asked softly. She crouched down to be at the same height as them, gently wiping off the tears and snot of the girl with a handkerchief.

“He broke my doll!” the six-year-old complained loudly. With a judgingly pointed finger, she angrily labeled the flustered boy next to her as a ‘destroyer’. The boy valiantly tried to defend himself but soon succumbed to the teary atmosphere, shedding his own tears as well.

Fuyumi patted both of them on their heads and looked at the mess. A pretty doll that resembled Mirko to some extent got brutally beheaded. Its body laid in a sad pile of moveable limbs while its head rested a few centimeters to the side, not attached.

She remembered a time when her oldest brother had beheaded all of her dolls.

The crying and shouting of the two summoned both of their parents. Fuyumi recalled fondly how both were so emotional that they couldn’t say a word. They continued crying in misery and even ended up hugging each other since their parents had no idea what was going on. Their father left soon after he realized that nobody was dying anytime soon, while their mother went into the kitchen to get them some tea to calm down.

Touya tearfully apologized. He saw an ad about indestructible All Might dolls and thought it applied to every other doll as well. Her dolls were the only ones in the house and suffered thanks to that. He promised to buy her a new one as soon as he had enough pocket money.

He really bought me one, Fuyumi remembered with a sorrowful smile. The doll had a special place in her heart and was treasured greatly. Even now, she always had it on display in her room, looking at it and seeking comfort when she was feeling down.

“Teacher?” Her students’ voices startled her.

Upon closer inspection, the doll wasn’t salvageable. Not only did the boy rip off her head but he also broke the plastic connection that would have allowed her to put the head back on. Glue could fix it to some level yet the mobility of the doll’s head would suffer greatly.

Seeing no other way, Fuyumi decided that glue had to do the job.

“Oh no, we have to operate on the doll,” Fuyumi started dramatically. She instantly gained the attention of the children. “I need some brave helpers so that we can rescue her. Are there any volunteers?”

At the prospect of being heroes, the children let go of their sad mood and loudly started shouting. This summoned a few more and soon Fuyumi, equipped with glue and tweezers, had an audience of about ten children. All stared at her with sparkling eyes.

The girl whom the doll belonged to sat directly next to Fuyumi, directing her with a commanding voice. It made the teacher smile.

“Her shiny hair must remain shiny!” the little girl demanded. Fuyumi obeyed. She carefully glued the head back on, doing her best to keep the doll’s hair away from the drying glue.

 The operation was successful and Fuyumi handed the repaired doll back to the girl. She tested the limits and when the head wouldn’t move anymore, a sad frown formed on her face. Luckily, the boy who broke her suddenly exclaimed, “Your doll is a hero! She came back from being defeated and is even stronger now!” The other kids agreed and the little girl soon sported a smug smile.

“We could build her a gate! My dad told me an old story about how a hero came back from the dead after saving his wife!”

Fuyumi didn’t even have time to blink before the kids scattered in all directions, searching for the right material to build a cardboard gate.

The story vaguely rang some bells and while she was sure that the kid got the child-friendly and shorter version, she recalled some parts of the Greek tale. Shouto’s demands came to her mind. It would be some lame version of summoning the dead, but she could also build a representative gate to guide her brother back from the dead.

A smile escaped her. Touya would have had a field day with this. It made her wonder what the other two would do in their attempts at summoning their eldest brother.

With a mental note, Fuyumi decided to stop by the hardware store on her way back and get some planks as well as black paint. Touya was always rather dramatic and would certainly appreciate her attempts at copying his emo way of life.

Dabi sneezed for the third time that day.

‘Am I getting sick?’ he thought with a frown. Toga stared at him from the other side of the couch with a  grin on her face. She was the only one with him since Shigaraki and Spinner locked themselves into the basement, playing some games with online friends.

Mister Compress left with a cheery wave earlier and Twice was technically in the room but got knocked out an hour ago by his split personality. He brained himself on a lamp while being involved in an internal argument and somehow not seeing the heavy as fuck lamp in the middle of the room.

Dabi at least made sure that he was okay and left him on the floor. It’s not like he could lift the man since Dabi’s noodle arms and lack of physical abilities would fail him anyway. There is a reason he is a long-ranged fighter.

The League’s resident arsonist and not-so-secret bird appreciator huffed. For some reason, he was feeling rather melancholic the last few days. Memories from the past kept hitting him like a speed train, just as unwelcome and painful as well.

Being a sickly child, Dabi knew all about being ill. It was mostly his own fault since he didn’t rest and always pushed his body over its limit, giving it no space to fight against colds as it did its best to not fail him on a normal day.

Fuyumi would always scold him with a disapproving look on her tiny face while Natsuo would stay out of reach, casting worried looks at Touya’s sick form.

The past never forgets, huh.

He planned on throwing these words into Endeavor’s face when he finally revealed his past identity. The agony and hatred the other man will feel would be the perfect last emotion Dabi saw before he died.

Endeavor, who always disliked Touya. Weak, little Touya. Look at me, look at what I have become. You made me the way I am now.

Unfortunately, Dabi couldn’t bask in his madness when another memory hit him.

Cheerful Fuyumi ran around the house, shouting, “Look at me! Look at me!” Like the devil was on her heels. Touya, being in a bad mood thanks to some seriously itchy burns on his arms, almost ran into her.

His bad mood vanished when Fuyumi proudly presented her painted face to him. She took some of their mother's makeup and used it all over her small face. Pretty red lipstick – Touya couldn’t remember a time his mother actually wore makeup, much less such a vibrant red – and some serious eyeshadow made his sister more clown than a mature adult, the latter of which she was probably going for.

He swallowed down his laughter with great pain and complimented her handicraft.

“Why though?” he asked after she grabbed his arm and started dragging him off toward her room. Touya was suddenly much more alarmed since the makeup was probably still there.

“Silly, I will do your face and we can visit the store to buy some tasty sweets,” his adorable sister said seriously. His confusion as to why they needed to have makeup on their face was answered with a cheerful, “Because it’s fun.”

Touya couldn’t escape and was dragged off to the store, scowling at a laughing cashier as Fuyumi gave them some money for the ice cream they bought. 

Touya, just like his sister, had some pretty warpaint on his face consisting of red lips, blue eyeshadow, and a far from healthy dose of blush.

Dabi shook his head.

“Dabsie, wanna visit a store? I want to buy the new Mount Lady lipstick,” Toga interrupted his brooding once more. She quirked an eyebrow at his suddenly haunted face, scoffing when he didn’t give her an answer.

Days passed like this with each of the four siblings remembering the past like it was yesterday.

The day finally came. 

Endeavor was out with Hawks on a mission which gave them enough time to set up their summoning practices in the attic. Natsuo found the space a while ago and judging by its unused state, he wasn’t even sure if their father knew that they had an attic in the first place.

Luckily, the lights worked just fine and a window saved them from choking on the layers of dust the floor was covered in.

Natsuo had the least equipment with him.

He got a doll that was once a white-haired Disney Princess from the pre-quirk era but he liked how the defiant expression on the doll’s face resembled his brother. The doll also had blue eyes and white hair, which was another plus in his book. Rummaging through the box with Touya’s old stuff, he found a brush that still had some hairs attached. Natsuo glued them onto the doll and admired his handwork.

Fuyumi had various painted planks of work with her that she was assembling with Shouto’s help in some kind of doorway. The youngest had a pile of books and a plastic bag with him.

They even got some plates with mochi as offerings in case their brother was mad at them for being summoned. Touya had a weakness for mochi and they weren’t ashamed to abuse it.

“I’ll start,” Shouto offered after everything was assembled. Fuyumi and Natsuo sat down on some pillows and watched him. He collected the books and opened some, while the plastic bag was dragged over as well. Before they could ask what was in it, Shouto got the item out.

“…is that what I think it is?” Fuyumi asked in disbelief.

Shouto wrinkled his nose, answering honestly and without regret, “I embalmed Touya-nii’s jawbone.” What he didn’t mention was that Shouto didn’t use any special material but covered the whole thing in toilet paper. It wasn’t done properly with some loose ends swaying around from Shouto’s movements even though he used copious amounts of glue as well.

He ignored following protests and placed the item in the middle of a threatening-looking red circle. Shouto took a few steps back and admired his handiwork before starting the second phase.

He lifted his hands skyward and started speaking, “Touya-nii, I summon you. If you answer my plea, I will pay you with the chance to burn dozens of Endeavor’s merch items. Furthermore, answer my call and sweets and desserts will be offered to you.” He continued promising more and more ridiculous-sounding things like visiting anti-fish seminars – Touya’s hatred for anything fish was notorious in their family – and going nuts with their father’s credit card.

It was cute and slightly scary how much thought Shouto put into the event.

Sadly, nothing happened after Shouto finished his passionate prayers. With sunken shoulders and a dejected expression on his normally expressionless face, Shouto switched with Natsuo and the second presentation started.

The medicine student unwrapped the improvised Touya doll, handing it to the others for closer inspection. Fuyumi cooed over the adorable doll while Shouto stared at it with an unreadable expression that Natsuo couldn’t quite decipher.

After his sister handed over the doll, he laid it into the circle and next to the bone. The innocent-looking doll would stay upright, so he laid it on top of the bone to pop it up.

“Touya-nii, “ he started with a wavering voice, suddenly feeling scared as well as excited, “ I purposely chose a squishy doll since I didn’t want the house to burn. So, don’t come after me, okay?”

He took a deep breath and continued, “We really need you. Please come and talk with us. We can insult Endeavor and complain about his ridiculous fashion choices. His beard got even more stupid since you were gone. So, please come back to us?” The last sentence was spoken hesitantly with a hopeful note at the end.

Naturally, nothing happened.

Although, the wind in the attic was rather cold. Natuso found that weird since there was only a small window that they closed earlier after thoroughly airing out the room. Weird. He dismissed the thought when Fuyumi stood up. Her seat was quickly claimed by him, giving his sister a smug grin as she walked toward the circle.

Her doorway was built around it, conveniently encasing the circle with its objects. The whole thing now actually looked like a cult summoning circle, which is nice since they were going for that style.

Shouto had a quick thought about a scenario. If their home ever gets raided and the devil's circle is discovered, he couldn’t imagine the public outcry at the state Endeavor’s home was in.

Pro Hero Number One is suspected of being a devil worshiper. Is his power coming from devil worship? Are those flames not just conveniently called ‘Hellflame’ but are actually fires from hell?

These and many more headlines flooded Shouto’s head.

He almost missed Fuyumi’s presentation. Only now did he notice a small radio in the corner of the room. Fuyumi brought it here. She expertly turned it on and some unknown rock bands started blasting their music. A plate of cookies and some orange juice were placed in the circle, completing all three offerings of the siblings.

She didn’t start chanting or even speak a single sentence at the doorway. Instead, Fuyumi turned around, clasped her hands together, and cheerfully declared, “And now we dance together!” The other two didn’t share her excitement and stared stupidly at her.

“Dance?”

“…”

Their protests were ignored. With far too much strength, Fuyumi grabbed both of them and dragged them toward the circle area. A few meters in front of it, she stopped and started swinging her hips. Natsuo joined soon after, seeing no problem in making a fool out of himself since nobody but the three of them were there.

Shouto reluctantly joined in. He didn’t particularly dislike dancing but rather had no idea how to dance. His brother looked like Iida. The way he robotically moved his arms around resembled the excited manner his classmate talked. Fuyumi looked like she somewhat knew what she was doing. However, Shouto was sure that the way she moved her hips wasn’t healthy for her joints.

Seeing no way out of the situation, he started awkwardly stepping left and right while keeping his hands in front of him.

This was how Dabi stumbled upon them after a random portal yanked him out of the League hideout and dropped him into a stuffy attic.

Looking around, he temporarily ignored his very obvious siblings – their hair colors instantly gave it away – and focused his attention on the stuff surrounding him. A wooden arch surrounded him and he grudgingly agreed on the color scheme.  A pretty black with small hints of red and blue.

Dabi approved but that wasn’t the point.

Why was he here and where was ‘here’?

The music went on and Dabi passively recognized the song. I’m Back From the Dead , which surprisingly fitted the situation far too well. It made him also significantly more concerned with how he ended up here.

A step further, his foot hit something soft. Upon closer inspection, it was a rather ugly doll. Some parts of its hair were glued back onto it. He can’t imagine that this was one of Fuyumi’s since she religiously took care of them.

His attention was diverted by another object on the ground. It looked familiar. Dabi scratched his chin, careful of his scars and the area where he knew an implant replaced his missing jaw piece. The object was covered in toilet paper like someone attempted to wrap a gift but gave up before they really started.

A shiny, white part was peeking out beneath a loose layer of toilet paper. With nothing better to do, Dabi leaned down and grabbed the offending object.

Wait, was that…

“Is that my jawbone?” he asked, scandalized.

The dancing trio froze in their actions. 

Natsuo turned around in slow motion, his eyes were wider than tennis balls and one could probably fit in his openly gaping mouth. Fuyumi gasped, covering her mouth with her hands while tears started gathering in her eyes.

Only Shouto had a different reaction. He recognized Dabi from the disastrous forest training that turned into a kidnapping. How could he not recognize him? Even when they met in the clearing and Dabi mocked him, Shouto felt weird, like it shouldn’t be that way.

Now it all made sense.

His innocent, older brother got kidnapped as a child and was turned into a Nomu. He read the report of the confrontation between their father and Hawks with Hood, a Nomu that could talk and change its tactics with some level of intelligence.

Dabi’s actions were weird, from a hero standpoint. He inconsistently attacked people, had an extremely small death counter, and honestly, Shouto found the whole forest fire to be more of a beacon to attract the attention of heroes and police than an actual way to eliminate the students.

With a slightly wobbly deadpan voice, Shouto warmly greeted his returning brother, “Nii-san, welcome back. Even if you have turned into a patchwork zombie, we will still help you get free from being a villain.”

Dabi, who was getting ready to start his whole villain spiel the second he saw the recognition in Shouto’s eyes, blinked. “What?” He oh-so-eloquently asked. He didn’t even realize that his confusion gave away his identity since he didn’t deny Shouto’s statement.

Fuyumi, the smartest of the bunch, focused on his words, somehow ignoring the summoned and certainly armed villain in their midst.

“What do you mean, Shouto? You recognize him?”

“He was one of the villains that attacked us in the forest. He was also the one who kidnapped Bakugou, my classmate,” Shouto explained patiently.

Dabi was still being ignored which partially pissed him off. Yet he couldn’t say anything since he had to do his best to not laugh aloud at the incredulous expression on Natsuo’s face. The laughter left him as soon as the next part of the conversation took place.

“Then, was Touya-nii alive this whole time?” Fuyumi asked tearily, finally turning her attention back to Dabi. Shouto’s “I think so?” got drowned out by the skeptical “You call that alive?” of Natsuo. 

Dabi bristled angrily.

Natsuo defyingly stared him in the eyes. “Don’t tell me you don’t look more dead than alive with half of your skin being a concerning purple and scarred, and the rest of you looks like you got run over by at least three separated buses. Even your hair – nice edgy black, by the way – looks more like straw than actual hair. For fuck’s sake, the Touya doll looks like it has better quality than you and I literally fished it out of a trash bin.”

Dabi had nothing to say to that.

Instead, he focused all of his villain aura into his eyes and menacingly glared at him. It worked just as well as getting Shouto to stop with his zombie-monster- theory.

Although, Dabi blinked and thought about it some more, isn’t he technically like Frankenstein’s monster? He was partially dead and the doctor revived him, sewing on new body parts and skin, as well as unleashing him on the general public like one does with a monster.

A part of him felt like his brand had just been stolen.

Fuyumi overcame her shock and leapt across the dusty floor, giving Dabi just enough time to open his arms before she came barreling in. The whole ‘he’s a villain’ spiel didn’t seem to matter much to her as she sobbed into his jacket. Natsuo gave up soon and bear-hugged the duo, thoroughly caging Dabi.

Shouto, the one with the seemingly most survival instincts, at least took a second to doubtfully look at Dabi before he too joined the fray, squeezing himself under Natsuo’s arms and getting a part of Dabi’s coat that he held with clenched hands.

The whole situation was so unreal that Dabi could only hug them back, basking in their warmth and enjoying the short moment of peace.

Naturally, this was the moment Endeavor decided to come back home. His loud booming steps resonated throughout the house, echoing up into the attic. The sibling quartet heard him just fine but couldn’t be bothered to move out of the group hug. A part of them knew the second they let go of Dabi, they’d lose him forever.

“Don’t go,” Fuyumi whispered, “please.”

One level below, Endeavor or Enji since he was off duty, came to a confused halt at a ladder that he wasn’t aware of even existing. It blocked the hallway and judging by the pile of dust on the floor, hadn’t been opened for a long time.

He thought about dismissing it when sniffing noises reached him.

“What’s going on, big guy?” Hawks chirped from behind him. Enji invited the young hero to go over some mission details at his home, giving them a different perspective than the mundane meeting room walls that he got sick of.

“I have an attic?” he questioned no one in particular yet Hawks answered nonetheless. 

“Most people with a house have an attic,” the hero amusedly replied. If Enji had looked back, he’d have seen, contrary to his merry mood, a serious expression on Hawks’ face.

Golden eyes narrowed when a feather reported back its findings. “Can we move on to the meeting? I want to visit my favorite Yakitori restaurant later. They promised to save me some of their chicken.”

Enji nodded, realizing that he was wasting the other hero’s time, and turned his back to the attic. They made it a few meters before sobbing reached them once again.

Fuyumi was horrified and hastily covered her mouth but it was too late.

The creaking of the ladder announced Enji’s impending arrival. The four of them could have tried hiding Dabi or even shoving him somewhere yet they just remained in the same position. They were frozen, maybe in shock or fear.

“Fuyumi, are you up here? What is-,“ he cut himself off when he saw the four of them. The evening sun shone brightly through the lone window, expertly highlighting Dabi’s dark hair and signature purple scars even though he was partially hidden behind Natsuo’s bulky form.

Hawks, who remained below, had the perfect words to summarize the whole situation.

“Fuck.”

Rage shone brightly in Dabi’s eyes just as his hands caught on fire. The desire to throw his siblings off and leap at Endeavor grew with every second. Only three pairs of hands kept him sane.

“Please, let’s talk first,” Fuyumi begged once more. Natsuo and Shouto didn’t say anything, their shaking bodies were answers enough. With a sigh and internal curse, Dabi woodenly agreed.

“Dabi?” Enji asked, not understanding the situation. Or maybe he did but slipped into denial directly after. It can’t be, can it?

Eerily blue eyes glowered at him from the attic, eyes he knew far too well. How could he not remember those eyes, once a brilliant bright blue that has dulled now?

“Touya?” he asked with a shaking voice. Hope and horror bloomed equally in his chest.

Dabi snarled with a wicked grin on his face, “Yes, dear father?”

Below, Hawks tried to stabilize the fragile situation. “How about we all relocate to the living room and nobody gets violent? That sounds awesome, right? Let’s do that!”

Enji didn’t hear what Hawks said nor did he see the panicked eyes of his other children. All he saw was Touya, who stood defiantly before him with horrifying scars covering his whole body. A tattered cloak that he found ridiculous before he knew that Dabi was his son suddenly became a sign of a hard life. Silver staples glittered mockingly in the sun. Each and every one taunting Enji for not being fast enough, for not being a good father, and for following his son’s wish. Touya suffered so much.

“Touya?” He brokenly repeated.

The anger and hatred in Dabi’s eyes lessened, replacing parts with confusion at the obvious pain in his father’s eyes. Why wasn’t he mocking him? Why did his father look like he was in pain? This can’t be right. He must be playing a trick on Dabi to get him to relax and then arrest him.

“Let’s go downstairs. We’ll make sure that we can talk, okay?” Natsuo offered, hesitantly.

Dabi didn’t verbally reply. His hands were forced out of their clenched position which Natsuo took as a sign to continue. Fuyumi grabbed his other hand while Shouto collected the doll and the wrapped bone.

Calling the walk to the living room tense was an understatement.

Hawks joined the situation and ignored the bunch of Todoroki that gave him side eyes when he didn’t buzz off. Once seated, Enji couldn’t take his eyes off Touya who was squished between Natsuo and Fuyumi. Shouto, meanwhile, stared a hole into a sweating Hawks’ back.

“How?” Enji asked. How did you survive? How did you become a villain? How did you get here? He wanted to ask more questions but his voice betrayed him.

“How what? How did I not die? Sorry to disappoint, but I unfortunately remained amongst the living,” Dabi sneered.

“I searched,” Enji started and stopped, the right words didn’t want to come out. He took a deep breath and calmly continued, “I searched the whole clearing. I didn’t find you. How did you survive?”

“You actually came?” Dabi asked in disbelief.

Enji looked at him, “How could I not? I am a trash father but I never wanted you to be hurt.” His words angered Dabi.

“You never wanted to hurt me? That has got to be a joke, old man,” he snarled. His face was twisted into a mockery of a smile and Shouto realized that this warped smile may be a self-defense mechanism for Dabi. It reminded Shouto of Izuku, who continued smiling even though he was in pain.

“I-I am,” Enji started. He huffed in frustration when he couldn’t find the words he needed. “I learned far too late how stupid my methods were. I was blinded by my desperation and envy of All Might, and you suffered for it. There are no words to describe how sorry I am. It won’t make the past go away. I, I don’t know what you lived through but I know that it is my fault that you suffered. I am sorry for that. So, so sorry. No matter what you want, I will give it to you to repay just a small amount of my wrongdoings.”

Hawks and the other three were startled at the honesty and emotions the big guy displayed.

“Even if I want you dead?” Dabi asked with a weird look on his face.

Enji just nodded determinedly. His eyes never left Dabi’s face.

“Why couldn’t you have looked at me and given me some kind of recognition?” It was like a dam broke. Blood started oozing out of the seams under Dabi’s eyes, he paid it no mind. Maniacally glinting eyes stared holes into Enji.

“Because I was stupid.”

Dabi didn’t react to his words.

“Why couldn't you have taught me the right way? Why did you abandon me?”

Enji repeated, “Because I was stupid.”

“I am a killer! A monster! Someone who will rot in Tartarus or die by self-combustion! There is no future for me just as there is no past!” Dabi was screaming at this point. His voice went hoarse, straining his already damaged vocal cords. Blood dripped down merrily his cheeks, tainting his healthy skin a devastating red.

“If you are a monster, so am I,” his father said through clenched teeth. The other man had to hold himself back from standing up and throwing himself at his son. His beautiful, broken son. Enji broke him just like he broke Rei. He destroyed all beautiful things in life.

Taking a deep breath, Enji knew that he had to change Dabi’s mind, not for his own sake but for Dabi’s sake.

“You? A monster? The number one hero? How funny,” Dabi laughed. He was filled to the brim with anger and hatred.

“I will give up my hero title and do whatever you want,” Enji offered without hesitation. It was laughable how easy it was for him to say that. Once upon a time, he’d have done anything to get the title and now it felt like a heavy burden. He didn’t deserve it.

Dabi didn’t know what to say. Was this a lie? Did Endeavor play with his feelings? A traitorous part of him whispered that it was real.

Hawks interrupted, “How about we all calm down?”

Dabi glared at him.

“The tea is really good,” Hawks complimented the cooled-down tea that Fuyumi brewed in a bad attempt at distracting the others.

“Shut up, you overgrown rotisserie chicken.”

“I have pretty feathers which a cooked chicken is missing. Your argument is invalid.”

“I can cook you if you want. Free of charge even.”

“I have no problem baking in the sun but I need to watch my tan. Your fire is a bit too hot for me, hot stuff.”

The two bantered with each other. Seemingly heated words had no actual bite behind them. The rest of the room caught onto it as well. “You know each other?” Enji asked or more like confirmed.

“No,” Dabi promptly denied.

“Yes,” Hawks happily chirped.

“How?” Enji asked Hawks who previously answered affirmatively. The bird just blinked at him cheekily, completely unfitting of the situation and Dabi wasn’t quite sure if he did it to distract them or if Hawks just felt like it.

Fifty-fifty, really.

Hawks at least had the tact to not only completely ignore Enji but also change the topic along the way.

“How did you get here? I can’t imagine that you suddenly decided a house visit was in need,” he asked, curiously. Dabi wouldn’t go home just to attack Endeavor after years of avoiding the whole town area. He always knew where he lived and could have come in the middle of the night to kill Endeavor, but didn’t.

Dabi pointedly looked at his suddenly sheepishly smiling siblings. Shouto was the only one who kept his poker face, idly sipping his tea and joining Hawks in ignoring Endeavor. It worked quite well since the flame hero slowly but surely turned a bright red, matching his skin tone to his hair color.

“Those three over there,” he started, shamelessly sharing what they had done since they interrupted his sleep, “built a summoning circle and tried to bring the dead me back. Unfortunately, I wasn’t dead, and even more unfortunately, it actually…somehow worked.”

Enji took a deep breath. Then another because what could he say?

Dabi is Touya, a can of worms he couldn’t handle now, and his other children somehow managed to do the impossible and create a ritual that teleports someone somewhere else. Both facts were mind-boggling and he was far too sober to think about it.

The whole Hawks-Dabi fiasco can wait as well.

Natsuo was the one who asked the next question, “What will we do now?”

“Will you arrest Touya-nii?” Fuyumi asked, worried. Shouto clenched his hands. His mind was split between righteous fury at the horror they experienced yet at the same time, they trained to be heroes. They needed to be prepared for such scenarios as that was literally their job description.

And Dabi, for all his grouchy demeanor, acted weird while they were fighting. He wanted to know more. Not just the Villain Dabi but also who his brother was. What was Touya’s favorite food? Did he still hate fish enough to throw it at the ceiling in a fit? What about friends? Family other than them? Romance?

He didn’t want to see his free-spirited brother behind steel bars.

Enji hesitated. Not because he didn’t know what to answer, but rather because the look in Touya’s eyes startled him. Gone was the menacing madness, the hatred, the pain. His son was staring at him with vulnerable, wide eyes. Silently begging for the right answer. Enji knew at that moment if he decided wrong or just wasn’t fast enough to answer, Touya would bolt. The last embers of Touya will die and only a hatred-driven Dabi will remain.

“Never,” he assured with a shaking voice.

“Never?” His son echoed, sounding lost.

Hawks grinned, once more ruining the moment, “That’s good to hear because I am selectively blind and deaf, and would have been unreliable if you decided to attempt an arrest.”

“When are you reliable?” Dabi scoffed with humor. His blue eyes sparkled, challenging Hawks. Enji took notice of how Touya relaxed a tiny fraction. He didn’t regret his answer.

Hawks protested, “Hey! I am always reliable, especially when you demand I bring you food at truly ridiculous hours.”

Enji really didn’t want to know what Hawks and his son’s relationship was.

Contrary to him, Fuyumi certainly did.

“Are you together?”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“…I see.”

The future was uncertain. The game has changed for Endeavor and even more so for Enji. How Dabi came to be and how they will proceed from now on, he didn’t know but they will find out; together.

Looking around, Enji took in the faces of his smiling children. Even Shouto had a slight smile on his face as he watched Hawks and Touya bickering.

His own gaze fell on an item on the table. This looked like-

“Is that Touya’s jawbone?” he shrieked.

Shouto blinked at him, “Yes, I mummified it.”

“What do you mean mummify? Did you get it out of the casing and covered it in toilet paper?” Enji’s voice sounded strained.

“No,” Shouto denied and Enji sighed in relief only to choke on his tea when Shoto clarified, “I didn’t just cover it but glued the papers onto the bone since they didn’t want to stay in place and you can’t have a real mummy without bandages sticking to it.”

He even sounded proud of what he did, Enji felt like crying.

“But I wasn’t the only one who used parts of Touya?” Shouto voiced his confusion. Touya’s grumbled, “Why does that sound so wrong?” went ignored.

“What?”

Natsuo, who got what Shouto was hinting at, lunged at the dual-colored teen desperately. Shouto avoided his weak attempt and continued exposing his brother.

“Natsu-nii stole some of Touya’s hair and glued it onto a doll.”

“…what?”

Natsuo scoffed, “At least the doll is prettier than Touya-nii.”

“I object,” Hawks declared heatedly. Even his wings fluttered angrily behind him.

“My hero,” Dabi sarcastically swooned.

“What?” Enji repeated like a broken recorder.

“I think we broke Father,” Fuyumi pointed out, not sorry at all.

The rest of the day was spent with a dazed Enji, a bickering Hawks-Dabi-combo, and three thoroughly satisfied siblings just enjoying the chaos.