Chapter Text
“Heuuhh…” Touya gasped with a dry throat as his eyes snapped open.
White was the first thing he saw. It was bright.
‘Is this heaven…?’
Slowly the pain from seeing left Touyas system and he could see his surroundings better. It wasn’t heaven. Rather a very bright, white LED light.
He couldn’t move his head. Couldn’t open his mouth after his gasp. His fingers seemed to be frozen together. His ears didn’t seem to do anything but ring too.
He could only stare at that annoyingly bright light until dark green blobs started dotting his vision.
Touya closed his eyes.
’How long has it been…how long have I been here…?’
~~
The next time Touya opened his eyes he could hear chatter. He didn’t know how far away it was.
It seemed someone had healed his ears. Everything else?
Still dysfunctional.
“...yes…he…quirk…”
And then the chatter disappeared.
Were they talking about him?
Was he at a hospital?
’Is dad here…?’
~~
He didn’t know how long it was until he opened his eyes again. Just that it had been long enough for his limbs to start moving.
He could slowly clench his hand. He could move his head from side to side–if he was willing to risk getting a severe headache. His feet also seemed to be able to move slightly.
Touya softly exhaled. How long until he could get up?
How long until he could rip this stupidly white quilt off of himself?
How long until he could see the trees, and the sun, and, and…just anything but that white light…
Could he get up…?
~~
Touya was running. Sprinting through the woods even after he couldn’t hear the sound of those people chasing him.
They were experimenting on people. On children . And Touya wasn’t about to become one of them.
So he ran and ran and ran.
Until his feet were bloody and raw.
Until his lungs were burning as they erupted in flames.
Until he collapsed.
He didn’t know where he was anymore. He just had to get away.
Slowly he pulled himself forward. Grabbing a tree root. A rock. A handful of dirt.
He had to keep going.
He lost consciousness when night fell.
His hands were just as bloody as his knees. His entire front side was covered in dirt, shit, and blood.
When he woke up he had enough strength to stand up. So he did. And he walked and walked.
And walked. And then he was surrounded by burnt trees. This place had no life.
“What…is…this…” Touya said slowly, as if testing his tongue.
He recognised this place. It was where he…
’That means…home is…’
Touya started running. He ran and ran and ran. All the way until he found himself at the Todoroki residence.
And then Touya ran again. This time away, far, far away, to a place only he knew. Well him and…
But he needed to get away. Everything was the same. His absence hadn’t changed anything.
~~
“Touya…I can’t believe I just found out…” A boy said, touching the trunk of a large tree.
“I thought…I thought that you were sick or something…but you were…you were dead…”
’Dead…?’ Touya thought. He wasn’t dead.
“Keigo…”
The boy yanked his hand away from the tree, grabbing one of his feathers and entering a defensive stance.
“Who told you I was dead…?”
The boy–Keigo– seemed to stop breathing. “T…touya…?”
Touya nodded, walking closer to the boy.
“They…they said you were dead! That all that was left of you was your…your…” Keigo’s eyes went to Touya’s jaw. “Your…jaw…”
Touya brought his hand up to his face. He had seen what he looked like now. He didn’t know what to do though.
Keigo walked closer, placing his hand on top of Touyas. He inhaled deeply. “We can get you healed Touya…I…I know someone, she has an excellent healing ability…”
Touya looked at the boy in front of him. “Can…we…talk…” He rasped.
Keigo nodded, pulling Touya to the tree trunk before lifting him up with his wings and flying to the highest branch.
After they had settled down, Keigo turned to look at Touya. “Touya…what happened?”
Touya looked at him, he exhaled softly. “A…lot…”
Keigo nodded. “I’m guessing since that forest was completely burnt and you…your skin is all crispy you burnt yourself?”
Touya lightly punched Keigo for the skin comment but nodded nonetheless.
“Where have you been for the last year?”
Touya looked up suddenly. “Year…?”
Keigo nodded.
“Hospital…bad…people…experiments…children…” Touya said slowly.
Keigo gasped. His mouth fell open in horror.
Hours later they fell asleep hugging.
~~
A few days later Keigo had convinced Touya to go to a healer, and they had just arrived.
“C’mon Touya~” Keigo said, as he dragged Touya to a girl sitting on a makeshift bed.
She had light blonde, almost white, hair, with dark red eyes. The girl was wearing an old, brown cardigan. Or at least it looked brown. Her round face, soft cheeks, and cupid’s bow shaped lips were all exuding warmth to the kids talking to her.
Keigo and his friends were living in the slums. Most of them had run away from abusive homes or had been orphaned with nowhere to go.
Touya expected them to be scared of his scars, some of them seemed too young to see someone who looked like him and not pee their pants.
They didn’t scream or cry, or run away terrified. They smiled sadly. A lot of them had their own scars.
The girl smiled as they approached.
“What’d this one do, Hawks? Did he leave the kettle on for too long?” She asked, her voice seemed very light, almost like a whisper.
“Hawks…?” Touya questioned.
“We don’t tell each other our real names, it…lessens the pain when…you know…” Keigo replied, whispering to him.
Touya nodded.
Keigo sat him on the ground in front of the girl.
“What’s your name?” She asked, reaching for Touya’s hands. “Oh…it looks like we’ll have to do sessions of healing for all these scars…”
“I’m…Dabi…” Touya said, the name he had once wanted to be his hero name coming back to him.
“Nice to meet you Dabi,” the girl said, smiling as her hands started glowing, “Everyone calls me Tsuki.”
“Moon?” Touya asked.
“Mhm, coz you know I glow and all.”
Touya nodded. “How does your quirk work?”
“It heals people, but for heavy injuries like yours it could take months, it works slowly, but it does what medicine and science can’t.” Tsuki said.
Touya looked at her for a second, she seemed proud of her quirk, “How’d you figure out how to work it?”
Tsuki looked at him with a soft smile on her face, “I…was often injured, and one day, well I guess it just sort of started healing itself.”
Touya gulped. “Oh.”
He could guess what she meant by injured.
“All done for now Dabi, I would suggest covering up those patches of skin, they’ll start opening up and shedding during the process until my quirk heals your skin cells and allows your skin to return to normal.” Tsuki said, returning his hand and rubbing her own.
“Yay!” Keigo cheered.
Touya smiled at his enthusiasm.
’What a dork…’