Work Text:
The Todoroki home was empty, his siblings and father were off in Okinawa celebrating Fuyumi's high school graduation. He'd have the whole house to himself for the next week, if he was lucky.
The house's security was lacking. Endeavor assumed no one would be bold enough to break into the home of the number two hero, but he'd also never would've assumed his eldest child was still alive. As long as the code hadn't changed since he last entered the home, no one would ever know he was here.
The code was easy to remember, 1801, that had been the code for as long as he remembered. Mom had suggested that the code be Touya's birthday, so it was easier for him to remember and input when he and Fuyumi returned from school. But that didn't matter anymore, all that mattered was that he was now inside the house and moving towards his old room. There was stuff there he needed.
He had been too raw with emotion to think of it when he had first tried to return home, but his savings were probably still in there. Natsu didn't know about where they were hidden, and even then he doubted Natsu had the heart to steal from his dead brother in the first place.
In the far corner, one of the old tatami mats was loose enough to shove a small object through a termite hole in the subfloor and into the elevated space below. There were many similar examples of structural neglect throughout the old house. Dabi lifted the mat and reached around for the small box he'd left there, finding it right before growing frustrated. The air under the floor was damp, and mildew was building up on the underside of the tatami mat. It reeked of rot, and he was confident he felt something crawling on his hand for a second.
If his memory served him right, he'd have about eighty-thousand yen. Not all that much in the long run, but about twenty times what he had arrived with. He put it in his coat pocket.
His futon and bed-set was still in the closet, totally untouched and covered in dust. Now that he looked again, the same story was reflected in everything else in his room. He sniffed, air smelt musky and stale. The room clearly hadn't been aired out since the day Touya burned. He prayed that his futon and sheets hadn't grown mildew in their neglect and unrolled them onto the floor. He'd wash the sheets, just to be safe, and open the shoji a little to air out the room.
He helped himself to the family wifi, he couldn't remember the password but it was still on display in the living room for whenever guests came over. While he had internet access he downloaded a few songs to the Spotify premium account Enji had never turned the autopay off for.
His mother's room was in a similar state to his, so he opened the shoji in there as well. Before Shoto burned, there were flowerpots lined up along the side of the shoji. Mom would open the shoji to let them soak up light, and move them outside when it rained. All four had been moved outside at some point. One was drowning in rainwater buildup, another stuck in a shady spot where it couldn't receive enough water or sunlight, functionally inside, and a third sat in near constant sunlight, though the small ledge above it prevented it from getting water unless it was coming from a specific angle. He couldn't find the fourth, through he remembered there being one. He ended up cutting the sole of his foot open on its pot after jumping down to look for it. It had fallen at some point, and the plant itself was likely washed away by rainwater or consumed by some kind of wild animal.
He didn't have time to dwell on what happened to the fourth plant because OW?! Luckily the broken ceramic of the pot wasn't sharp enough to actually pierce through his skin, but it still left a nasty cut. A blue flame flickered at his fingertip and he cauterized it, just so he could find the first aid kit without dragging blood through the house.
There was still a first aid kit in his and Natsu's bathroom, on top of the medicine cabinet and covered in dust. He sat on the rim of the shower he and Natsu would complain about near daily. Occasionally, at random, the shower head would make a loud, high pitched wailing noise that made it near impossible to actually relax and enjoy the cold water on their bodies. Like a tea kettle. Like Shoto and Mom. Enji tried fixing it by getting a new shower head, but that changed nothing. He promised he'd call a plumber about it eventually.
The anti-bacterial and burn ointments, among a few other items, had expired. But that was okay, all he needed were the bandages anyway and a cloth to wipe the dirt away with. The heat from the cauterization would've nuked the bacteria anyway. He wrapped up his wound the same way he was taught to as a child, before limping back over to the washing machine to receive his now, hopefully, clean bedding.
Due to the frequency of fire and fire adjacent quirks, fireproof bedding became a necessity in many households, especially when the quirk user is a child and doesn't have the best control yet. The main benefit was that the user didn't have to worry so much about burning an expensive mattress (or their whole house down) during their sleep, but a secondary benefit that many found and exploited, was that the bedding itself could be dried with a low controlled flame without causing any damage to the fabric.
He laid his dried bedding down on the futon and counted his savings, just to make sure he actually had the amount he remembered, he did. He'd have to consider how to spend it wisely. He couldn't steal any medications from the first aid kit like he initially planned, they were all expired, and with his current condition he didn't want to risk the possible side effects of using expired medications on his already weak body.
The musky air had been filtered out by then so she shut the shoji doors again and relished in the safety and security of his old home. Compared to sleeping in abandoned or condemned buildings, or if he were less lucky that night the streets, straight on the unforgiving moldy wood or coarse concrete, he was living in luxury now. An actual mattress was a blessing to his worn down spine and neck. He napped without the worry of some crackhead, urban explorer, or god forbid heroes and cops breaking in and harassing him. He was asleep before he even had the time to realize it
By the time he woke up the shitty, broken, phone he'd received from Grian was dead, he didn't know what time it was. It was either sunrise or sunset, he couldn't tell. He was sweating, he felt drenched, he realized he was burning up. He didn't recall any dreams, but he must've had one. He needed to take a shower while he had the opportunity to here anyway, might as well be sooner than later.
He felt decently rested, so he rolled up the futon and folded up the bedding and returned them to the closet. He also limp-ran to his mother's room to close the shoji in her room, he didn't bother readjusting the remaining plants to a more optimal position. He returned to his and Natsu's bathroom and turned on the shower, stepping straight in without caring for the water's temperature. He always liked colder showers anyway.
He began to relax into the water's embrace, washing away the dirt, sweat and grime that had built up since the last time he'd found an opportunity to take a shower.
SSSCCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
If he weren't drenched in water he would've spontaneously combusted right then and there. Really? How long had it been? At least six years since he burned up, and the problem had existed for longer than that. How had Enji not fixed it? Was he really that incompetent? That neglectful?
He turned the water off. He just couldn't take it. That persistent screech would send him over the edge. Had Natuso really endured this for all these years? Did he feel like there was no one to help advocate for him once Touya was gone?
He finished cleaning himself using a towel and water from the sink. He then left the dirtied towels in Enji's bathroom, just to piss him off.
He was done. Now he remembered why he'd abandoned returning to this shitty old house at sixteen. He packed up his shit and took a few other things from around the house with him. Small things no one would notice. Mostly from his own room, it was obvious that no one went in there anyway except to pray at Touya's stupid, pointless altar.
He snuck out the same way he always had as a kid when he wanted to train behind his father's back, by quietly sliding open the shoji and closing it behind him, then escaping through the forest.
He was sure he wouldn't come back again, for any reason at all, this time.