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Touya has always been fascinated with fire. It captivates him like nothing else to the point where he could spend hours doing nothing but watch it grow, the embers spitting in all directions as the flames grow ever brighter.
The way it flickers and gleams never fails to make his heart beat faster. The sounds of its crackles and pops are music to his ears, the kind of music that gets his blood pumping and body moving.
His mother doesn’t feel the same. Neither do his siblings. They all shrink from fire, detesting the very sight of it. Rei had gone as far as to ban it from their home. She’s had their fireplace boarded up, gas stove replaced with electric, and even now, not a single candle is allowed to be within ten feet of them.
Which means, the chance of ever getting his hands on a matchstick or lighter is basically non-existent. In such conditions, it is a miracle Touya even knows what fire is, and he only has his father to thank for it.
After all, Enji knows better, he knows that fire isn’t something to be feared but understood, yet even he spends his time putting the fires out rather than stoking the flames.
No one gets fire like Touya does, nor do they hear the way it calls his name.
They are at a garden party of one of his father’s colleagues— a fellow firefighter named Yagi Toshinori. He is the greatest firefighter the department’s ever had, with stats so high, they’re practically unbeatable. He is also Touya’s father’s greatest rival, the one man Enji hates above all others, and works so hard to be better than.
Touya doesn’t quite understand why they have to be there if Enji hates Yagi so much, but his mother had hushed him, saying something about needing to make appearances.
So there he is, standing around bored out of his mind because despite being a party of firefighters, there is a distinct lack of fire.
He stands off to the side by himself, his siblings making mischief with the other kids present. Natsuo and Fuyumi are messing around with some kid with blond hair, glasses, and a smug face and a girl who looks like she could defeat a wrestling champion with a single right hook.
They try to get Touya to join in, but he has no interest in hanging around and playing their silly games. He’s much happier watching them run around, acting like buffoons.
Meanwhile, Shouto has found a crowd of other little kids to go around screaming with, including much to Enji’s consternation, a green-haired boy who is none other than Yagi’s own son.
This fact has been the highlight of Touya’s evening, he’d laughed himself nearly sick at the horrified look on Enji’s face when Yagi had beamed, pointing out how their kids were getting along just like the two of them did.
Rei also tries to push Touya into socializing when that is the last thing he wants. To keep her from lecturing him, he moves away from the wall he’s been hovering at all evening and makes an effort to disappear into the nearby trees.
It’s not that he’s avoiding people just because his mother wants the opposite. The idea of talking to these strangers he doesn’t know, whilst being expected to be clever and charming, is enough to give Touya hives.
Yet, he’s not content hiding on the sidelines either. There is a restlessness inside of him, one that he doesn’t know how to cure. Well, that isn’t quite true either.
Touya knows perfectly well that he’s at peace when he’s watching a fire burn. There can be no fire here though, not with over a dozen firefighters ready to kill it should one even try to ignite.
He knows this perfectly well and still a disappointed sigh escapes him. What he would give to be able to see a fire for the rest of his life.
No price is too high, as far as Touya is concerned.
Touya’s making peace with the idea of people watching for the rest of the evening, when a…not quite familiar but definitely welcome scent hits his nostrils. It’s the scent of smoke.
Touya watches as Yagi is the first to recognize it. “Fire!” he yells. Immediately, Enji and the rest of their colleagues are snapping to attention. Most of them are rounding up all the family members to take them to a safe location, far away from the site of danger, while one calls the station.
“Touya!” Rei’s voice is frantic. Shouto is jostling in her arms, Natsuo and Fuyumi clinging to her legs as she turns in every direction calling his name. “Touya!”
Touya can see a firefighter with shaggy black hair try to convince her to leave, that he would bring Touya to her, but Rei refuses to budge. Touya is about to go to her to keep her from panicking further, but by then something else has caught his eye.
At first, he only sees it out of the corner of his eye; a little spark is jumping through the bushes from leaf to branch. It hovers in place as if waiting for Touya to make his move.
Looking back towards Rei, Touya moves away from the spark and its light dims, threatening to go out entirely.
A smirk crosses his face and this time he takes a step in the opposite direction, towards the spark. It doesn’t just regain its glow, no, it shines much more intensely.
He takes another step and then another, the spark only growing bigger and brighter, transforming from a small spark to a full-fledged flame.
Rei has spotted him, screaming his name as she struggles to get to him, but her pleas fall on deaf ears.
Touya breaks into a run, a grin stretching out across his face. The flame continues to grow larger, its glow almost too glaring to continue gazing upon. Touya doesn’t care about any of it, unable to tear his eyes away.
He has no idea how long he’s been running for. His eyes have been glued to the blazing inferno before him. This is the first time Touya has ever seen a fire quite so large, the shock of it stopping him from moving further, his need to take it in, to sear the memory into his eyeballs so great.
He’s never felt more alive.
Unwittingly, he reaches a hand out, heart pounding. All he wants to do is touch those brilliant orange-red streaks, wrap the flickering pale yellow around them until he has the fire turning in on itself into vivid shades not even found in the colour spectrum.
Touya is inches away, the heat roaring at him to stay back, but his heart insisting that he keep going. He’s never been interested in listening to his head anyways, so Touya plunges forward.
The second he makes contact is the second the fire vanishes from view, leaving him alone in the darkness.
For a moment, he’s frozen. He looks around only to find that he doesn’t recognize where he is. It doesn’t make sense, no matter how far Touya ran, Yagi’s garden party had been in a small woodland area. One that Touya is very familiar with and is located near plenty of homes.
There simply isn’t enough forestland for him to have run too far and gotten lost. So…where is he?
“Hey, kid,” a voice comes from behind him.
Touya whirls around to find a strange man with light blue hair and bright red eyes looking down at him. He’s dressed fairly normally, but there’s something that makes him stand out, something Touya can’t quite put his finger on. It is almost as though the very air around him is glittering.
“Who are you?” he gasps.
A playful expression dances over the man’s face. “You can call me Shigaraki. What’s your name?”
Touya frowns, “I’m not supposed to tell my name to strangers.”
“But I’m not a stranger. I told you who I am, didn’t I?”
“I don’t think that’s how it works.”
To his surprise, Shigaraki’s smile only grows. Touya feels like fidgeting, Shigaraki’s gaze making him squirm, but there is an uneasiness in the air and his gut tells him to remain still.
“What if I show you something interesting? Will you tell me your name then?”
“Interesting?” Touya repeats dubiously. There may be a weird air about the man but Touya isn’t one to be impressed easily. He calls Shigaraki’s bet, agreeing to give up his name should he be actually interested in whatever he has to show Touya.
Shigaraki smirks, like the cat that got the cream. Touya’s stomach is turning, a voice he rarely listens to screaming at him to run away from this man and to never look back.
His feet, though, are rooted to the ground. He shakes off whatever creepy feeling is trying to sink its claws into him, focusing on Shigaraki.
His smile widens and—Touya can hardly believe his eyes. The spark is back, dancing around Shigaraki, growing just like it had before. It plays with Shigaraki in the way Touya wishes it would play with him, jumping around him and wrapping itself around Shigaraki’s body.
Shigaraki doesn’t seem in the least bothered either. No, the fire is his friend.
Touya beams up at him. “Can I do that?”
He hums, “Perhaps. You’ll have to tell me your name first.”
A deal was a deal.
Touya nods eagerly. “I’m Todoroki Touya,” he reveals, unable to take his eyes off of the flames shimmering before him.
“Todoroki Touya,” Shigaraki repeats, savouring each syllable, as if obtaining Touya’s name is some kind of victory.
Touya doesn’t care, he’s far too impatient to notice the way Shigaraki is smirking in triumph and how his gaze has become sharper. “So? Can I touch the fire like you do?”
Shigaraki laughs. “You want to be with the fire forever, don’t you, Touya?” His name sounds odd coming out of Shigaraki’s mouth, but Touya has his priorities in order.
“Yes! Always!” he exclaims. “It’s my favourite thing in the whole world!”
Shigaraki offers him his hand. “Come with me. I’ll show you a way to play with fire where you won’t ever have to stop.”
Touya pauses, staring at the hand before him. There were a million reasons why he should say no, he knows this. His parents, his siblings, the fact that he doesn’t really know Shigaraki…
“Come on, Touya, the sooner we go, the sooner you get to play.”
All of Touya’s fears melt away and he grabs a hold of Shigaraki’s hand without another thought.
“Promise?” he checks.
“Promise,” sharp teeth flash at him as Shigaraki grins, tightening his grip around Touya’s hand. “Let’s go.”
Without even glancing behind him, Touya obediently follows.
Fire is the enemy. Touya understands now. His mother had been right to try to shut it out of their lives. He wishes he’d had the ability to listen, wishes he hadn’t allowed his heart to take control of his mind.
Shigaraki stands there laughing with his fellows. Touya can see him clearly now for what he is. Deep within Otherworld, there is no need for glamour and Touya can see the decrepitness of him with his crusty skin and scarred features.
Yet still, Shigaraki was full of life, while Touya…
Touya is still staring into the fire, but this time in despair, rather than glee. Bitterness swells up inside of him as his body is yanked forwards against his will. He is jumping and twirling, stomping and clapping, all the while, his body is screaming in protest.
His joints ache and he can hardly breathe from the sheer exertion, and still, he continues to dance. He thinks his limbs will fall off, and yet, he continues to dance. He doesn’t know how long it’s been since he started, and he never will, for all he can do is dance.
There is no escape. Touya had once wished he could look into a fire for all his life. His wish has come true and he couldn’t regret it more.
Turns out, the price was too high, after all.