Chapter Text
Dabi walks around the empty street of Musutafu. It would usually be busy but only in the daytime. It was night now, a time Dabi loved so he could roam the streets without being feared or arrested.
He walked by many alleyways, not bothering to look inside one.
Until he needed to stop for a cigarette break.
It wouldn't be good to stop in the middle of the sidewalk, what if someone comes around and sees him smoking? They would obviously call the police & Dabi honestly doesn't feel like dealing with that.
Besides, he likes to light his cigs with his fire, which would cause too much light against his face and probably be recognized by a camera nearby.
He moves into an alleyway next to a small flower shop and a cafe.
Leaning against the brick wall he pulls out a pack of cigarettes from his coat pocket and lights one using a little bit of his fire from his quirk on the tip of his finger.
Dabi places his last cigarette in between his lips, cursing under his breath as he realizes he's going to need to steal more. Before inhaling the nicotine, he goes deeper into the alleyway where he was behind the buildings.
There was a large green dumpster next to the fence & the backdoor to the flower shop.
There was a small gap between the large wall and the dumpster where Dabi saw a mattress and a large black object on said mattress.
“The fuck?” He curses rather a little loudly, which makes the object shift around.
It actually moved closer to the wall rather than to him.
That's when he realized that it's not an object.
“Who's there?” He asked, not expecting an answer.
That's when blonde hair peaked from the black cover, which Dabi figured were midnight colored wings. They would have blended in with the shadows if not for the moonlight directly on them.
Then, two green eyes peaked from the wings.
The person looked tiny, too small to be an adult but too large to be a kid. Probably a middle schooler.
“Jesus Christ. It's a homeless person.” The villain says to himself, shaking his head.
He walked over to the dumpster & threw away the small box in his hand.
He took one more glance at the homeless person to see the guy exposed his body a little more.
The guy was shirtless, first of all. And was covered with scars. His wings still covered most of his body & his knees were to his chest.
And second, it was obvious he wasn't an adult.
Dabi was a villain, yes. But he did have morals.
And one of them wasn't about to leave a teenager, who was half-naked, alone.
“What are you doing out here alone, kid?” He says, taking a long drag of his cigarette.
The boy didn't speak, he just stared at Dabi, clearly confused and scared.
“Oi, I asked you a question.” He says a little louder, making the boy flinch.
“Uhm.” The blonde looked down but quickly looked back up. He shrugs, making Dabi sigh heavily.
“Where's your shirt?” The ravenette asked.
There was a pause between them with Dabi waiting for an answer.
“Uhm. It got ripped.” The blonde answered, his voice low, careful.
“How?” The boy gulped.
“Some guy…” He stopped himself from saying anymore.
He didn't have to, Dabi picked it up instantly. The answer was clear as tears pricked in the corners of the boy's eyes.
Dabi nodded, not forcing anything from the boy.
Inhaling the smoke from his cigarette, holding it for a moment, & blowing out.
“What's your name?” It looked like the boy was about to say something snarky but decided it wasn't a good choice.
Smart.
“Ken-kenji.” He stuttered, looking away.
“Well, Kenji. What's got you here alone?” Dabi took a few steps forwards before couching down in front of the mattress, cigarette in between his two fingers.
Kenji scooted away, his body tense. “My parents…” Those tears fell down his face. “Kicked me out. I'd say, a month ago?”
Dabi nodded with understanding, a small smile on his face in an attempt to be somewhat comforting.
But he also didn't care if it didn't work. He was also amused by how the boy was scared of him.
“You've been here alone for a month, huh?” Kenji nodded. “And a hero hasn't come to help you yet? What a shame.”
The blonde gulped, looking away.
“Yeah.” He whispers, almost too afraid to admit it.
“Will you come with me?” Dabi smiled wider, taking another drag of his cigarette.
Kenji looked up. “Why should I?” He challenged.
“I have a little base with me and my peers. I'll convince my boss to let you stay there, and I'll pay you if you start working there too. How doesn't that sound?”
Kenji's eyes lit up at the sound of getting paid.
“What will I do?” He swallowed a lump in his throat.
Dabi shrugged, “just some stuff. Might get you in trouble with the police but I'll be there to protect you.” Ew. Dabi thought.
Kenji tilted his head sideways as he glanced over to the dumpster. He thought for a moment.
“You're not going to.. touch me..?” His voice cracks.
“Oh god, no!” Dabi scowls. “God no. I'm not a pedophile or a pervert.”
The blonde nods, looking back at Dabi. “Okay… I'll go with you.”
The ravenette smiles again, standing up and lending a hand to Kenji. Kenji took it, standing up.
“Anything you need to grab before we go to the base?” He asks, and Kenji shakes his head. “Kay.”
The walk was long, agonizing to Kenji's knees from his chronic pain. But he didn't say anything.
Tonight was a cold night, and Kenji was still shirtless so he used his wings to cover himself up, as well keep him warm. He was also shoeless, so the cold ground hurt his feet as they patted against the concrete.
“I'll get you some better clothes soon, alright kid?” Dabi reassures him, putting his hands in his coat pockets after he tossed his cigarette into the road.
“Kay.” Kenji responds, still unsure about this whole thing.
“Say, how old are you? You can't be over 12.” Dabi mentions about his height, Kenji was short for a guy.
“I'm 15, sir.” The boy looks down.
“Don't with that sir shit. Call me Dabi.” Kenji looks back up.
“Okay…Dabi.”
The ravenette smiles softly.
Just a little less than a mile and they arrived at an old, abandoned bar.
“Well, where we are.” Dabi says as he knocks on the door. “Open up, assholes!” He shouts.
The bar is far from downtown and there weren't really any people around to hear him usually, so he'd shout something so the league would know he's the one knocking and not some random teenagers trying to break in for fun.
As the door unlocks, Kenji scoots closer to Dabi, grabbing onto his coat. Dabi doesn't bat an eye, so Kenji stays close.
There was a lizard guy who opened the door. Dabi doesn't say anything as he walks inside, pulling the boy behind him.
“What's with the kid?” Spinner asks, closing the door.
His eyes don't leave the boy until he realizes that the boy didn't have a shirt. Then, his eyes glued onto Dabi.
Kenji tried to make himself smaller by shifting his wings closer to his body.
“Found him by a dumpster.” Dabi says. “He's working with us now.”
No room for arguments.
The ravenette pulls Kenji to the bar, telling him to sit on one of the stools. Kenji does as told, keeping his wings over his body.
“Find him a shirt.” The villain demands, not looking at Spinner who follows the order and rushes to his own room to find a shirt.
He comes back with a plain white shirt and hands it to the boy, looking the other way to respect him.
“Thank you.” Kenji thanks as he pulls the shirt over his, his wings having no room to be free, so they're awkwardly bent downwards.
Dabi sighs, spinning Kenji around in the chair until his back is facing him.
He grabs a knife out of his pocket and cuts two holes for Kenji's wings to be free. That small act made Kenji a little more happier.
“Thank you.” He thanks Dabi this time.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” The ravenette brushes it off as he puts his knife in his pocket.
“My shirt…” Spinner whispers sadly although he didn't care too much for that shirt. It was just a plain white T-shirt.
Spinner sat on the stool next to Dabi. “Does boss know?” He asks.
Dabi shook his head. “No? I just found him.”
The lizard ignored Dabi's rudeness as he's used to it.
Kenji wonders why the man is such a jackass to his peers.
“How do you think boss is going to react?” Spinner asks.
“I don't know and I don't care.” Dabi stands up. “Kenji, follow me.”
Kenji stands up too and follows the man down the hallway and up the stairs.
“Right here is my room.” He points to a door. “Knock if you need anything, just don't be annoying.”
He leads the boy further down the hallway. Dabi opens one door.
The room was small and had nothing but a small bed in the corner with a thin blanket on top.
“This is your room. Once you get working & buy stuff, you can decorate it however you like.”
Kenji walks in and looks around the place although there's nothing to look at.
A smile makes it onto the boy's lips as he sits on the bed. Uncomfortable but better than being homeless.
“Thank you.” He says again, clearly more relaxed than earlier.
“Yeah. You're going to meet more of my co-workers.” Dabi says as he leans on the doorframe. “I'll tell them about you first so they don't think you're a stranger trying to hunt them or something, so they won't kill you.”
“Kill me?” He asks, more nervous now. Almost afraid.
Dabi laughs. “Oh yeah, did I mention that we're villains?”
A wide smile on his face as he watches the boy realize what he's gotten into.
“Anyways. The blonde hair girl is Toga, she's a bloodsucking maniac. The taller girl with brown hair is Mange,” He continues like it's nothing.
“The lizard is Spinner, the tall guy that always wears a bodysuit is Twice. And my boss, Shigaraki, has long blue hair and doesn't fucking shower like he needs to.”
Kenji sinks in this information, still shocked about how he had agreed to live with a villain.
He nods, not looking at Dabi but instead staring at the floor with wide eyes. His wings close to his body.
“Alright.” The man responds before leaving, closing the door behind him.
He goes off and tells the rest of the League that there's a new member but to not bother the kid or else he'll burn them to ashes.
The last person to tell was Shigaraki, who was in his room playing video games.
Dabi doesn't bother to knock, he just opens the door, irritating the other man who sat on the floor, controller in hand, in front of the small TV he had stolen a while back.
“What do you want, Dabi?” His voice was scratchy. He didn't need to look at the man to know who it was.
“Can't you see I'm plotting our next mission.” He wasn't, and it was obvious.
“We've got a new member of the League.” Dabi gets straight to the point, not caring about what Shigaraki was doing.
Shigaraki pauses the game and turns his head with that creepy smile. “Really? Show me!”
Dabi flicks his head to silently tell his boss to follow before walking away without a word.
They both walk to the guest bedroom they set out for new members.
It was the last room they had so I guess no more people joining the League then.
Dabi knocks, which made Shigaraki assume that the new person was either a girl or a minor. Dabi didn't care if he saw another man naked, but he respected girls and minors more.
Weird, but understandable, Shigaraki thought.
After a little bit of no answer, Dabi peeks his head in.
The light was on but the boy was underneath the thing sheet, wrapped around the fabric and his wings.
“There he is.” Shigaraki looked in and noticed the small figure sleeping in the bed.
Dabi then closed the door when the man backed up.
“What kind of crimes does he do?” Shigaraki asked as they walked back down the hallway.
“I'm going to get him to steal stuff for us. Those wings will come in handy, especially at night.”
Shigaraki looked at Dabi like he had three heads. “Where did you find him?”
“By a dumpster.”
Shigaraki sighed heavily. “So, he's not a villain who doesn't go on killing sprees or try to get revenge on heroes? Like we do?”
Dabi shook his head. “Nope. He's got trauma though, his parents kicked him out.”
His boss started to scratch at his neck out of irritation. “You just brought a traumatized child here!?” He nearly shouts but raises his voice.
Dabi nods like it's the most normal thing in the world.
“He could help us out, if you think about it.”
Shigaraki just shook his head and brushed past the ravenette, walking back to his room to “plan”.