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Izuku wasn’t sure what to expect as he stepped outside Fukushima station, the cold December wind hitting his face. He pushed his colourful scarf higher until it covered his nose. Maybe he should’ve worn his ultimate winter coat instead of his regular one.
He crossed the big taxi parking area, squinting at the map app open on his phone, held in one gloved hand while the other held onto one of his backpack straps. Todoroki-kun had said that he’d wait for him on the other side of the station’s western exit. He didn’t even know what car to look for. He’d forgotten to ask.
He’d been worried about his friend ever since his encounter with Dabi almost two years ago, his worry only increasing after the young hero had stopped talking about the former villain almost entirely afterwards. They hadn’t even seen each other in person since. Then came the announcement that Todoroki-kun would move all the way to Fukushima to live with his brother. He’d almost tried to talk his friend out of that idea, but he knew that it’d create a rift between them.
However, their communications had increased by a lot since this summer after the two siblings had moved to the countryside near the prefecture’s capital, filling Izuku with hope. He’d been worried about losing his friend, had been worried about the younger man getting lost in his family issues once again, but maybe things were different this time.
He was very curious about seeing Todoroki-kun’s new house. He wondered if it resembled his childhood home at all. He wasn’t so sure about seeing Dabi again, feeling both excited and anxious about their possible meeting. He wondered if the former villain would just hide from him this time. That didn’t seem like something Dabi would do, but it had been a few years since the war. He really wanted to know if the older Todoroki had changed at all. He wasn’t even sure what the older man had been doing all these years. The public wasn’t privy to the details, but the re-socialisation programme did give former villains the benefit of the doubt and granted them various freedoms.
There had been some recent news articles about Dabi’s formal apologies to the families of those he’d killed, which had surprised Izuku. The commission had claimed that these had been formulated and handed over by the former villain on his own volition. He had no doubt that his friend had played a big part in the whole thing. The articles hadn’t mentioned anything about the criminal’s whereabouts apart from reiterating the commission’s statement about their programme and its strict rules that every participant had to abide by. The general reception had been mixed. Some voices, both in the media and from individuals, had claimed that there wasn’t much more a murderer could do other than apologise and follow the programme. Others had asked for harsher punishments, saying that nothing would ever be enough to atone for Dabi’s deeds.
Izuku wasn’t sure about his own opinion. The debate about punishment, re-socialisation and appropriate justice predated hero society and it wasn’t going away anytime soon. He was a little biased in this case, not because he cared all that much about Dabi, but because he really wanted his friend to be happy.
He kept thinking about Shigaraki. He still had no idea if the man could’ve been “saved” and turned into a somewhat functioning member of society again.
But maybe seeing Dabi again would give him some closure on the matter.
He looked up, listening to the pedestrian crossing’s incessant beeping. The green light lit up, prompting him to finally cross the road.
His phone buzzed in his hand. One new LINE message.
Todoroki Shouto:
To your left. Black car.
He turned to look towards his left. There it was, a shiny black car.
He approached the vehicle, noticing the unusual bronze wheels. The door on the left opened from the inside.
“Hey.”
He peeked inside, smiling when he saw his friend behind the wheel.
“Good evening, Todoroki-kun! It’s been a while.”
“Yeah. Sorry about that.”
“No worries! Everyone is busy these days.”
“Get in.”
“Sure!”
He got into the comfortable passenger’s seat, placing his backpack on his lap, curiously inspecting the car’s elegant grey and black interior. It smelled like every new car would. He fumbled for his seatbelt.
“Is this your car?”
“Yeah. Bought it this summer.”
“Oh. Why’d you choose this one?”
His friend looked sheepish as he pressed the button to start the engine and turned onto the road.
“I rented one like this last year. I really liked it.”
“That’s right, you got your license last year.”
“Yeah. Didn’t drive at all for months before I rented the car, though.”
“I still don’t have my license.”
“Not like you need it.”
“No, but I think it’d be good to have. But I’m just so busy with school.”
“Is Aizawa-sensei teaching you how to teach?”
“Sometimes. He said that I should stop calling him ‘sensei’, but he also said that I’d always be a ‘problem child’.”
“Ah.”
“Why did you rent a car back then?”
“I went on a holiday.”
“Oh! I think Yaoyorozu-san mentioned it. You had asked her about traveling advice.”
“Yeah. It was my first holiday.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. I really liked it. I went to Touhoku with Touya-nii.”
“O-oh.”
Why was a former villain allowed to go on holiday? Was it because of Endeavour’s influence? Izuku didn’t know how to feel about that possibility.
“Uhm, where did you go?”
“All the way to Aomori and back. We spent three weeks on the road or in hot spring resorts.”
The image of Dabi sitting in a hot spring was… absurd.
But he was glad that his friend had finally gotten to go on a holiday.
A comfortable silence settled in after that.
It was almost dark outside, but it was still light enough for Izuku to take a close look at his friend, hoping that he didn’t come off as rude. His former classmate hadn’t changed all that much on the outside, his clothes still simple but expensive, his hair looked the same. It was his expression that had changed. The younger man looked content, at peace even.
Izuku leaned back in his seat, looking outside the window as they left the city. The residential area they’d been passing through seemed to come to an end, morphing into fewer houses and more fields.
They made a right turn onto a narrow road leading through more fields. They passed one more house before the road was framed by nothing but bushes and trees.
The car slowed down before they stopped next to a massive gate. There was an unmarked mailbox next to what looked like a doorbell and speaker system. There was no sign with a family name in sight.
Izuku watched as his friend stopped the car and took out his phone, unlocked it and pressed a few buttons.
The gate opened slowly without a sound.
The car moved again, up a narrow road.
Izuku looked back as the road made a gentle left turn, the closing gate now out of sight.
The house came into view.
He stared in awe as they approached the two story wooden building, warm light emanating from inside. The remaining road was lit by dozens of lanterns framing it on both sides.
The car stopped near the front door, which was also framed by two small lanterns.
“Door’s open. I’ll be right back.”
“O-Okay!”
Izuku got out of the car and slung his backpack over his shoulder before hesitantly approaching the front door. It opened to the outside.
He stepped into the genkan, put his backpack down and fumbled with his scarf for a bit before managing to untangle himself, feeling very curious about his friend’s living space. He looked up at the high ceiling. There were wooden beams everywhere.
He looked back down, eyeing the corridor. The light inside here was as warm as the temperature. He spotted more wooden beams as well as fusuma and shoji sliding doors.
He jumped a little when a door opened to his left.
“Sorry. Had to park the car.”
“Ah, it’s fine.”
Todoroki-kun took his coat and scarf off his hands, hanging it next to the other jackets in what looked to be an expensive wall closet. He was wearing grey slippers with… cat whisker prints?
“You can wear those slippers, they’re for guests.”
“Thanks. Uhm, do you want me to wear a mask again?”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Okay.”
Izuku looked down at the genkan, spotting a pair of shoes that Todoroki-kun probably wouldn’t wear.
Black combat boots.
He kicked off his shoes and stepped onto the shikidai, arranging his shoes so that they’d point towards the exit. He put on the slippers, feeling slightly disappointed by the lack of cat whisker prints.
“I’ll show you where you’ll sleep.”
“Okay.”
He followed his friend, eyes wide as he looked to his left and right, doing his best to take in everything. He spotted a small tatami room through a pair of open fusuma doors to his left, irori placed in its centre. There was a set of closed shoji sliding doors to his right, followed by a half-open wooden door, followed by another set of closed shoji.
He looked back ahead. They were approaching the combined kitchen and living room area, but he also spotted some glass doors that seemed to lead to a terrace. He didn’t have a chance to see more since his friend made a left turn, leading him to some steep wooden stairs. The upper floor looked rather similar to the lower one.
Todoroki-kun opened the shoji to his right, revealing another tatami room, a futon visible in its centre, illuminated by one lantern placed on the ground.
“You can sleep here. Bathroom’s right next to you.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
“You hungry yet?”
“Not really.”
“I bought stuff for nabe, we can eat later and then try the hot spring.”
“You have a hot spring?”
“Yeah, one indoor and one outdoor.”
“Oh. Yeah, I’d love that!”
“Okay. Want to play some video games before dinner?”
“Sure!”
His friend looked sheepish again.
“I… I have a surprise for you.”
“For me? B-but you didn’t have to. I didn’t even bring you a gift, I forgot! Sorry.”
“It’s fine. Do you want to wait downstairs? You can pick a game already.”
“Sure!”
And then Todoroki-kun walked away, leaving Izuku to stand next to the futon that he’d sleep on later.
He placed the backpack next to it. He wanted to see more of the upper floor, but it’d be rude to sneak around without the host’s approval.
He slid the shoji shut behind him before slowly making his way down the stairs, watching his feet. The living room was something of a separate corner. He recognised that L-shaped couch from Todoroki-kun’s apartment in Akasaka. It was facing an expensive-looking coffee table (he recognised that one as well) and a big wall-mounted TV. He saw at least three video game consoles and six (perhaps more) controllers on top of the TV stand below, which was filled with dozens of cases that probably contained all kinds of video games and movies.
He spotted the familiar bar counter dinner table that lead into the spacious kitchen. He also recognised the expensive Italian coffee machine on the counter.
But he was curious about those glass doors. They seemed to lead to some sort of terrace or balcony.
He walked past the kitchen, peeking around one wall cupboard.
He’d been right. The glass doors lead to a spacious terrace, illuminated by more lanterns. There were two round, comfortable-looking chairs on its left side. The other end of the terrace seemed to be closed off by another pair of glass doors, turning it into a conservatory. It was dark outside now, but he could see another path leading down from the terrace, illuminated by even more lanterns, leading to what seemed to be a small pier, framed by two more lamps, their warm light reflected in what seemed to be a small pond or a lake.
He looked towards the right side of the terrace.
There were three chairs and one round table, a small candle placed in its centre.
Someone was sitting in one of the chairs, leaning onto the table, seemingly writing something down.
Dabi.
He took in the man’s appearance visible in the warm light.
Black sweatpants, black t-shirt, grey slippers with… cat whisker prints? Pale skin on his arms, burned hands and elbows, slim silver staples between the mismatched patches that were glimmering in the low light. Pale skin on his neck, the lower jaw seemed somewhat disfigured, the same burned skin, the same pattern of staples below the cheekbones and on the chin, seemingly holding the man’s face together, exposed teeth, somewhat reminiscent of Honenuki-kun from class B, albeit a lot more gruesome with the visible, damaged jaw muscles. The upper half of the face seemed to have mostly recovered, although Izuku asked himself where all that skin had come from. He’d learned a little bit about skin grafts after his own arm had ended up miscoloured due to his injuries, but he’d refused the surgery. That’s why he knew that you could only use your own skin for grafts. Maybe this one was artificial? White hair, blue eyes.
Staring directly at him.
Oops.
Dabi was resting his head in his left hand, elbows placed on the table, right hand splayed on top of some paper. He didn’t move, his unblinking gaze fixed onto Izuku.
He could never forget those eyes. Fire. Smoke. Kacchan. Gigantomachia. Shigaraki. Dabi’s rambling. Todoroki-kun almost getting burned alive as Endeavour was frozen in front of his sons.
Well.
No turning back now.
He took two more steps towards the terrace doors in the centre, sliding one of them open, leaning forward slightly.
“Midoriya Izuku.”
Izuku failed to suppress a shudder. That voice.
He swallowed hard.
“Dabi.”
One grey eyebrow shot up.
“That’s not my name.”
He frowned.
“O-oh.”
Silence.
They stared each other down.
“Uhm-“
“Touya is fine.”
“Oh- okay.”
Izuku still felt nervous, but he didn’t think that Todoroki-kun’s brother would attack him in his home – their home. It would jeopardise the man’s freedom entirely, probably permanently. There was no way that the authorities would let him go anywhere without a suppressor bracelet anyway. Izuku didn’t see one on his wrists, maybe an ankle bracelet? Yet he still felt his heart beat a little faster than it should. He couldn’t stop thinking about those moments on the battlefield, where it had been life or death, where blue flames burned terrifyingly hot, the smell of smoke and burned flesh too much to bear.
But here Da- Touya was, no blue flames in sight, sitting at his brother’s expensive outdoor table, wearing grey whisker slippers, working on…?
“Are you writing something?”
That piercing gaze left his for the first time, sliding down to the paper beneath a burned hand.
“It’s- it’s homework.”
Izuku felt his face scrunch up. That was… unexpected.
“What kind of homework?”
Blue eyes flicked back up to meet his.
“English. Ninth grade.”
“O- oh.”
Touya blinked slowly, leaning his head a little more into his left hand.
Silence.
They stared each other down.
Izuku still held the glass door in one hand, his feet planted outside the terrace.
Tok. Tok. Tok.
Touya had started drumming the fingers of his right hand against the surface of the expensive table.
He stood up a little straighter.
“Do you need help?”
One grey eyebrow shot up.
“From you?”
He nodded, ignoring the potentially provocative tone.
“Yes. I’m a teacher. Not an English teacher, I guess, but it was one of my best subjects.”
Silence.
They stared each other down.
“So, do you need help?”
The drumming fingers froze in their movement.
The older man let out a sigh, leaning back slightly, lowering his left arm.
“Yeah.”
Izuku felt his eyes widen. That was… unexpected.
One burned hand pointed at one of the two empty chairs surrounding the table. The movement somehow managed to convey an air of sarcasm.
He moved quickly, almost stumbling a little as he stepped onto the terrace, sliding the glass door into place behind him, closing the distance, swallowing slightly before sitting down on one of the chairs padded by expensive designer cushions, never breaking eye contact.
“So, uhm, what is it that you need help with?”
That piercing gaze left his once again, sliding down to the paper underneath a burned hand.
“Third conditional.”
“May I?”
He held out his scarred hand.
Blue eyes narrowed.
Silence.
The burned hand slowly pushed the paper across the table.
Izuku smiled.
“Thanks.”
Touya frowned.
He paid it no mind as he picked up the paper with one hand, taking a look at the exercises.
“Do you know what it’s used for and how to structure the sentences?”
He didn’t look up.
“Not really.”
“It’s used to talk about something in the past that didn’t happen. You use if, past perfect, would and have and past participle.”
He looked up.
“That shit makes no sense to me.”
“Think about something that could have been avoided, for example. ‘I wouldn’t have missed the train if I hadn’t overslept.’ ‘It would’ve been better if I had set my alarm.’”
“Hm.”
“Do you want to try? How about the one from this exercise? This scenario: I was late for my plane because I took the bus. The taxi is faster.”
Toua lowered his gaze as he started to pick at the staples on his left wrist with his other hand, frown still in place.
“Gimme a sec.”
“Of course.”
Silence.
Izuku waited patiently.
“’If I had taken a taxi…’”
He smiled, but the older man didn’t look up.
“’… I wouldn't have missed the plane.’”
“Correct. See?”
Blue eyes rose to meet his.
“I still don’t get the rule.”
“I don’t think you always have to, as long as you can apply it. Some people can apply the rules without ever really understanding them. They just know if something sounds ‘right’.”
“Hm.”
“If you practise more it’ll become like a reflex.”
“I guess.”
“Midoriya?”
Izuku jumped a little. He’d forgotten about his friend. He’d been supposed to pick a video game. Oops.
“Ah, sorry! I, uh, ended up out here.”
He turned to look at the younger man, who held the glass door in one hand, leaning forward into the terrace space, looking worried.
Izuku smiled. Todoroki-kun’s posture relaxed.
“Want to pick a game now? I’ll show you the surprise after.”
“Ah, sure!”
He stood up, shooting Touya a glance. The older man wasn’t looking at him, but at his brother, frowning.
“Surprise?”
“You’ll like it too, Touya-nii.”
Blue eyes narrowed.
Izuku walked past his friend, back towards the kitchen and living room area.
Mismatched eyes met his.
“I’ll be there in a second.”
“Alright. I’ll look at the games.”
He walked a bit further, but couldn’t help turning around to see through the glass one last time. He watched the two brothers, watched their calm expressions, watched as Touya waved the paper with the English exercises in one hand while talking, head resting in his other hand, watched as his friend smiled slightly at the former villain.
He let out a quiet breath, feeling his body relax.
He turned around, feeling like he was being rude by staring and approached the TV stand full of games. He spotted the racing game that they used to play at the dorms, but he hadn’t played since. If Todoroki-kun still played it regularly their skill level would be worlds apart. He spotted a different game with a cute-sounding name. He pulled the case backwards. The text on the front promised local “couch co-op”. That sounded good.
He held the game in his hand, turning the case around to read the text on the back of it as he sat down on the familiar L-shaped designer couch, now feeling very curious about that incoming surprise.
“Sorry about that. I’ll get the surprise now.”
He jumped a little.
Todoroki-kun stood on the far end of the couch. He looked content.
“Okay, I’m looking forward to it!”
His friend smiled, just a little, but it was there, before turning around, disappearing into the corridor.
Izuku resisted the urge to stand back up and look at Touya again. This wasn’t a zoo.
He’d talked to Kacchan online about finally visiting his friend again after that incident almost two years ago. The blonde had reminded him about Iida-kun’s attempt to take down Stain after the hero killer had crippled his brother for life. Kacchan had pointed out that people could be “really fucking weird with their siblings”. Izuku had scolded him for those words, but he’d secretly agreed. It had been very out of character for Iida-kun to go after a villain all alone, to be so impulsive as to throw all caution into the wind. He’d been worried about Todoroki-kun for so long now, thinking that his friend might act rashly, might abandon him and their classmates, might abandon his happiness or even his work as a hero because of his brother.
But it seemed like he’d been wrong to worry that much.
“Surprise.”
The familiar monotone voice was accompanied by the sight of his friend wearing the- the horrible yellow Pikachu onesie that their classmates had gifted him as a joke that one time.
Izuku quickly pressed one hand against his mouth to keep himself from laughing. It’d be rude.
He lowered his hand when Todoroki-kun revealed what he’d been holding in his right hand.
It looked like-
“I got you a onesie too. This one’s-“
Bi-coloured eyebrows furrowed as the younger man tried to read the label attached to the zipper visible on top of the folded atrocity.
“Bulbasaur.”
Izuku fought hard to keep a straight face.
“That’s- that’s very thoughtful. Uhm-“
“I thought we could wear these. I read something about pyjama parties. But it’s a- a onesie party. It’s the only one I found that has some green in it.”
The sight of his friend wearing that yellow thing paired with his usual near-expressionless face reminded Izuku of the morning where the stoic boy had walked into the dorms, looking almost exactly the same, causing most of their classmates to lose it. Kacchan had looked absolutely shell-shocked for about two minutes straight.
“You should wear your pyjamas underneath. Then it’s both a pyjama and a onesie party.”
He couldn’t suppress his smile any longer.
“Thank you, Todoroki-kun. This is a great surprise.”
His friend’s posture relaxed slightly.
“Okay. You can change upstairs.”
“Sure!”
He stood up from the couch and held out his hand, accepting the green-ish atrocity. The fabric felt soft.
“I’ll be right back.”
“You want some tea?”
“Sure! Any flavour is fine.”
“Okay.”
He slowly made his way up the wooden stairs before sliding open the shoji leading to the guest room where he dug around in his backpack until he found his pyjamas, changing into them before shaking the onesie, undoing the zipper and stepping into it, closing the zipper afterwards. It even had a hood. It was horrible.
He loved it.
He slid the shoji shut behind him before slowly making his way down the stairs. Todoroki-kun was sitting on the couch, two expensive-looking tea cups placed on a black, lacquered tray on top of the coffee table.
Mismatched eyes took in his appearance.
Izuku smiled.
“It’s very comfortable.”
Todoroi-kun nodded.
“I know. I sleep in it all the time.”
He sat down to the right of his friend.
“You want to play this one?”
The younger man held up the game’s case.
“Yeah. It promised, uh, couch-coop, I think.”
“No idea. I’ve never played it.”
“You’re probably pretty good at that racing game by now.”
“I play it with Touya-nii sometimes.”
“That’s why I picked something else. I wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“True.”
Mismatched eyes moved past him. Izuku turned around.
Touya was standing in the middle of the kitchen space, paper in one hand, scowling at the two of them.
He felt his heart beat a little faster.
“What the fuck is this?”
“A pyjama and onesie party.”
Izuku couldn’t help but smile, despite the initial spike of fear he’d felt just now, when he saw the look of absolute disgust on the older man’s face at hearing his brother’s words.
“Why’s there two of you now?”
“It wouldn’t be a party if it was just me, Touya-nii.”
Blue eyes narrowed.
“Is this some kind of conspiracy?”
He decided to take the risk.
“It’s more comfortable than expected. I can definitely recommend wearing a- a onesie.”
Narrowed blue eyes slid over to meet his.
Physically, Dabi’s face hadn’t changed at all since their last meeting.
But this was a completely different kind of glare than the one that had reminded him of Todoroki-kun at the sports festival.
“You should try one too, Touya-nii.”
The blue eyes moved away from his.
“Fuck no.”
“Okay.”
Touya let out a long-suffering sigh. His near-skeletal visage might’ve morphed into something akin to resignation – or at least that’s what it looked like to Izuku. It was a little hard to tell with his lower face like this.
“You guys gonna be in the hot spring?”
“After dinner, I think.”
Izuku perked up. He’d forgotten about the hot spring.
“‘Kay. Gonna go now then. Can have nightmares about the green and yellow atrocities later, I guess.”
“Okay. Good night, Touya-nii.”
“Good night!”
Blue eyes slid over to meet his one last time before Touya looked away again, raising one burned hand in what could be generously interpreted as a wave. The movement somehow managed to convey an air of sarcasm.
He picked up his cup of tea after the older man had disappeared down the corridor, feeling warm.
“Wanna play some couch co-op now?”
He turned back to his left to look at his friend, clad in the yellow atrocity.
He smiled.
“Yeah.”
He watched as Todoroki-kun moved to kneel in front of one of the consoles, inserting the game disc before picking up one controller and tossing it in his direction. He caught it with his free hand.
Izuku had been so worried about his friend for almost two years. He wasn’t sure how he felt about Touya, about the fact that the former villain and convicted murderer got to spend his days in a house like this, going on holidays, playing video games and soaking in a private hot spring. He wondered if Endeavour had paid for some or all of this, wondered how much influence the former Number One still had, wondered about Hawks’ involvement in all of this.
What a bizarre outcome.
But at least his friend would be alright.
Izuku turned his attention to the game’s starting screen.
The couch co-op had been selected.
Todoroki-kun would definitely be alright.
He smiled.