Work Text:
Within the confines of the school, there rests a black sword bound in chains and trapped within a force-field, for the protection of outsiders. ‘Dabi’ is the sword’s proclaimed name. Teachers had tried to wield Dabi, hungry for his overwhelming power, but all had suffered the same fate.
Cremated into dust. And the dark prison that Dabi rested in was oh so dusty. What hadn’t turned into dust was now rotting bones, with the smell of burning flesh wafting through the dim hallways.
A fitting prison for a malicious weapon like Dabi.
A cruel weapon, who would whisper to the silence a name of a meister long gone, “Tenko.”
Another teacher, driven by greed, spurred on by the rumours of the ultimate flaming sword in all of existence, descended through the dark hallways. Far too eager, far too greedy, as he used his pass as a teacher to reach through the force-field with dirty, grubby little hands.
Cold laughter rung out, right when the fingers met the hilt of the sword—and blue flames burst out, encasing the teacher, setting them ablaze. More fuel for the blue flames, and more fuel for Dabi’s festering heart as the man was consumed right up until his last scream.
There was silence again.
And then a mournful mutter of, “Tenko… All for Tenko.”
The force-field was starting to crack. And when it did, the world wouldn’t be ready for the return of a once promising weapon, from a wealthy family of weapons and meisters.
Until it did, Dabi remained in his little prison. Patient. Quiet. Mind consumed by the darkness, hardly recognising his old name anymore. What mattered was memorising ‘Tenko’. Everything else about himself could burn alongside the greed of these feeble meisters, who’d sign up as a teacher at the school just to be able to break into the underground halls, and try and claim Dabi for themselves.
Dabi would burn the entire school to the ground, and then he’d melt himself away until nothing was left. All for revenge for a boy who gave so much, only for the world to kick him aside. A world where Dabi hadn’t been able to be an individual until he had burned away the reputation of Touya to ash, so he’d stop being compared to his family. And one day the world was going to see how different Dabi was to Touya.
‘This isn’t what Tenko would have wanted,’ Dabi had thought the first few times he had cremated people trying to wield him. Over time, he stopped thinking such thoughts all together.
He could hardly remembered what Tenko even looked like anymore. He had red eyes, right? And hair like…
*
…charcoal.
Is it natural? Touya wondered, as a boy with dark bangs hanging over his eyes introduced himself to the class.
Today was the first day at the school. The first day of everyone’s training of becoming strong weapons and meisters as a career. And on the first day, everyone was to introduce themselves one by one.
“I-I’m…Tenko S-Shimura…”
“Tell the class a little about yourself, Shimura.”
“U-Uhh… I’m a meister… I like video games… T-That’s it.”
“Haha, what a loser,” someone behind Touya whispered, snickering.
“Yeah, and what’s with those gloves? Fucking freak.”
Touya shook his head, rolling his eyes. Bullies were even in this ‘prestigious’ school. Great. Funny if Tenko could wipe the floor with these bastards. Literally why else was he wearing gloves if not for a perfectly good reason?
“It is nice to meet you, Shimura. Now please take a seat. Next is…”
Kinda cute, Touya thought, as Tenko scrambled to sit down, and hid his face behind his hands, which were indeed gloved. He was shaking a little, so Touya supposed that he had anxiety issues. Anyone with a brain could see that. And of course Tenko was going to be forced to do partner-work and freak out even more.
Touya could recognise it, because he could relate. But he was anxious of other people not due to social anxiety. It was for a whole other reason entirely.
“Next up is… Oh! Touya Todoroki!”
Maybe I should approach him during the break and say ‘hi’. Looking around at these jerks, they’re going to bully and ostracise the guy real quick. Like yeah, he’s scrawny and nervous but nerves have nothing to do with being a good meister. Hell, some amazing weapons have anxiety issues. All they need is someone to reach out and give them a chance.
Touya wasn’t overly sure why he had focused in on Tenko so much. He was naturally perceptive of people, enjoying reading them and trying to work out what their deal was. But Tenko was a particularly strong lure. And Touya wanted to figure out why.
“Touya Todoroki!”
“Uhh?” Touya stood up, realising that the teacher was pointing at him, urging him to introduce himself, and looking all too eager.
In fact, the class seemed to mirror the teacher’s enthusiasm, gazing at Touya as if he were a piece of meat. Made his skin burn. And if not for his training at controlling himself, he would have started smoking from the skin. Father had always hated that Touya’s emotions fuelled the flames. To let one’s emotions control your powers was pathetic. A thing that a commoner would do. And wealthy families could never be pathetic, because the world’s eyes were on them constantly. If Touya couldn’t control himself and bury his emotions, then the family would look bad.
“I’m Touya Todoroki, and I’m a bladed weapon who specialises in—”
“Oh my gosh he’s the son of the legendary weapon, Enji Todoroki!”
“The son of Endeavor is in our class?!”
“Awesome! I hope I get to be his meister!”
“Touya, be my weapon, man!”
Touya gritted his teeth, but hid it behind a practised smile. He continued on as if he hadn’t been rudely interrupted, “I specialise in fire, and can unleash flames during swings when I’m in my blade form.”
“Woah, just like his dad! That’s so cool!”
“Hey, his hair is even as red as his dad’s! And his eyes are just as blue!”
“I also like playing video games,” Touya said, ignoring the squabble of stupid kids vying for his attention, setting his eyes on Tenko. Tenko, who still had his hands over his face, and still seemed to be trying to calm down from having to introduce himself to a class that had already judged him as for inferior. Tenko never looked up, and Touya wished he had at least once. “So yeah, that’s about it,” Touya finished with a shrug, before sitting back down.
He gave up ignoring the eventual prods and attempts of his classmates trying to talk to him, and was all smiles and charm. Acting like the perfect Todoroki that he was raised to be. The son that the great Endeavor had high hopes in.
The son that wanted to talk to the most ‘inferior’ meister in his class the most.
But he never did, not even during the break. As soon as the class had ended, Touya had been flocked by eager weapons and eager meisters, all wanting to be associated with a Todoroki. All who wouldn’t have given a damn about Touya if he had been born into a different family.
Touya missed his chance to speak to Tenko, who slipped out of the classroom unseen, probably knowing how to seem invisible when he wanted to be.
*
Touya kept missing chances to be alone with Tenko, because he hadn’t been given any chances at all. With a crowd always following Touya, Tenko of course never would dare be anywhere near him. And Touya just couldn’t initiate conversation with him when someone else was always watching. Because if Touya drew in everyone’s attention, then that meant that bullies wouldn’t tend to go after Tenko, because all those pathetic worms were trying to get into Touya’s good books.
Touya was sick of the constant praises during training. The pats on the back, the fact that he basically had a cheerleader squad and couldn’t just be by himself and focus. Even the teacher gave him special treatment, letting him turn in work late while punishing others for such a thing. And Touya couldn’t even act out, because he didn’t want his father to get too involved. He was already basically breathing down Touya’s neck, pressuring him to choose a powerful meister to get ahead of everyone else.
Touya didn’t want a meister. Didn’t see a point. They seemed so weak. Weapons were to defend them, and give up their lives for them if they had to. How was that fair? He didn’t think he could ever do that for someone. Why couldn’t they be on the same level? And if a meister got themselves killed then it was their own stupid fault, not the failure of their weapon, because if they couldn’t defend themselves without a weapon then they were weak, and a useless meister.
Touya never shared his thoughts with anyone. He knew how much trouble he would get in. Free-thinking wasn’t exactly allowed of a Todoroki, especially not a weapon Todoroki. Which made no sense because his father had more power in the family than his mother, who was a meister through and through. His father was a weapon through and though. The kids were meant to be a mix, and the older Touya got, the more troubled he was about his parents’ marriage.
They really had married just to make some freakish mixed talent kids. And Touya hadn’t inherited his mother’s ability to wield ice, so he wasn’t the mix that his father had been trying to create.
It was becoming more and more clear that Touya wasn’t the son that his father favoured. So he had to keep trying to do well in school, and not act out, and maybe his father would look at him as if he mattered again, like he used to.
For now all Touya could do was pretend like these peers of his mattered. When all he wanted to do was go over to Tenko, and sit next to him.
Tenko, who, despite being an ‘inferior’ meister, had the best theory scores out of everyone else. Tenko, who couldn’t answer questions to save his life when the teacher called on him, and yet could write complex essays that would give him the best grades. Nobody else really noticed his achievements, but Touya could. Because Touya got great grades too, but hated his own grades more and more when his work as an individual was overshadowed due to the fact that he was Todoroki, so of course he’d get great grades. Didn’t matter that he had worked for them, that he had studied hard to get those grades to at least be acknowledged. But it didn’t matter. He couldn’t just be Touya. He was a Todoroki, and could never be whoever he wanted to be. His path in life was paved in stone. There was no straying from the path.
During practical classes, Tenko always did poorly. Practical involved being out in the field, and learning how to fight and use special skills. Tenko did badly because no one would practise with him, and the teacher seemed to forget he existed most of the time, too focused on Touya like everyone else.
It made Touya want to scream that, ‘TENKO IS RIGHT THERE! CAN’T YOU SEE HE’S STRUGGLING?!’ To the point that Touya did end up smoking one time, and his onlookers had cheered, not interpreting it as his rage leaking out.
And due to pressure from his father, Touya finally gave his meister peers a chance to try and wield him.
Literally every meister in the class, except Tenko, lined up to have a go with him. Making a spectacle out of it, that Tenko didn’t attend.
“Ouch! Too hot!” the first meister exclaimed, trying to take a hold of Touya’s sword-form’s hilt but having been slightly burned as result, with Touya having felt an uncomfortable feeling in return, a sign that they didn’t and couldn’t connect, their wavelengths not able to sync.
The next few tries went the same way. All uncomfortable, all resulting in minor burns to the meister. And Touya felt so uncomfortable that he had to stop the whole thing, to the disappointment of his peers, but reassured that there would be another chance a different day.
All the while, he had wondered if Tenko could sync with him, even if a little.
Touya’s father, of course, chewed Touya out for not being able to sync his soul’s wavelength with just anyone. You know, as if it was somehow Touya’s fault that his disposition didn’t allow for just anyone to wield him. Some weapons could be like that, and some meisters could only specialise in using certain weapons. There was nothing wrong with being difficult to connect with, but Touya’s father certainly hadn’t seen things that way.
Another day of attempts at syncing. Another day of failure for the meisters, whose burns had been slightly more severe, causing pink skin and needing icepacks. Even so, no one faulted Touya, with those meisters vowing to train to get strong enough to be able to connect with him. As if forcing it would work (Touya knew it wouldn’t).
“Maybe you’re sabotaging them on purpose, boy!” his father had hissed at him. “I wouldn’t put it past you. Always thinking you’re so above it all, and so smart. But I can see what you’re trying to do, and if you keep this up then people will start noticing, and it’d reflect badly on us. Don’t you care at all? About how it would damage our reputation? Our family? Think about your mother and siblings.”
“My mother who poured hot water on her own son after she snapped from all of your abuse?”
For that, Touya went to school the next day wearing foundation on his face. And had smiled, despite the pain. The slap from his father had made his teeth rattle. That’s what he got for speaking his thoughts. He would have to be more careful in the future.
*
More failed attempts. More severe burns. And yet still meisters begged to give him a go, as if the results would be any different.
Tenko never showed up to the try-outs.
Touya avoided going home if he could help it.
And then one day something new happened.
“ARGH! MY H-HAND! IT’S MELTING!”
Touya transformed into his human form, watching with fascination as blue flames ate away at the fingers of a meister. A meister who had said a few slurs at Tenko. Something that Touya had focused on while the meister had tried to sync with him.
Touya didn’t smile, and he felt messed up about the fact that he wasn’t horrified. He pretended like he was, but the blue flames made him excited, because blue flames were the hottest kind of flames! Hotter than his father’s! He had never made blue flames before!
The flames faded, but the fingertips of the meister had been burnt away. And he was escorted to the infirmary by some students.
Instead of making his peers fear him, they only wanted to wield Touya even more.
Touya hated every last one of them.
He desperately wanted Tenko to give him a go. His desire was growing more intense, to the point that he confessed his dilemma to his sister, Fuyumi, leaving out a few details.
“You know, there’s this saying that certain weapons can look at a crowd of meisters, and see one that they know will resonate with them on instinct. Like being able to find a needle in a haystack. I’m not sure if there’s any truth to it, but doesn’t that sound familiar? Explain how you felt upon seeing him for the first time.”
“Like he stood out, and wasn’t like everyone else. And now it’s hard to see anyone else when he’s right there.”
“Huh… You’re very worked up about him, so maybe it is true. But you won’t know until you guys try syncing up your wavelengths. Maybe it won’t work at all.”
“It will,” Touya argued, offended that she’d even suggest that it wouldn’t. He felt like they truly could if they just tried. He hadn’t been so sure about anything else in his life before.
“Whatever you say! Hey, just don’t cry if it doesn’t work.”
As if Touya hadn’t learnt to bottle up his feelings. Crying wasn’t something a Todoroki did. Especially not a boy Todoroki. Touya couldn’t be a real man if he cried like a baby. So he learnt not to. Especially not in front of his father.
He had learnt that harsh lesson long ago.
*
Touya turned up early to class, earlier than usual, and ignored everyone else, and sat down next to Tenko as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
Tenko lifted his head out of his hands, and peered at Touya through black locks.
And Tenko had the most beautiful ruby red eyes that Touya had ever seen. He had never been close enough to see them, or the scars on Tenko’s face. Most were hidden by the hair, perhaps on purpose, but they were noticeable.
“Hey, mind if I sit next to you today?” Touya asked, able to play it cool because of his persona he had perfected. As if he wasn’t all nerves and butterflies.
Tenko’s eyes flickered away, and he trembled a little. Which was upsetting to see. “U-Uhh… Why?”
“Sick of the noise,” Touya said, in a lowered voice, gesturing to his confused peers, who were gesturing and pointing at Tenko as if he had corrupted their idol somehow with sorcery or something.
“Y-You’re here to make fun of me…”
Touya felt even more upset. “No? What is there to make fun of?”
“Me,” Tenko mumbled, planting his face on his desk. “You…a-all do it. Go away.”
“Hard to make fun of a guy whose grades are better than mine, or a guy I know nothing about.”
“N-Not gonna do your homework for you…”
“Huh? Which prick asked you to do that?” Touya asked, way too interested, feeling like he was grinning a bit too widely. So he hid it behind a hand. He probably looked creepy, but Tenko couldn’t see him or anything else.
“Many… Your dumb g-groupies… Entire class.”
“Huh… But like in particular, if any of them has harassed you a lot then I’ll get them to stop.” Oh, he definitely would. The eagerness scaring himself, but the idea of Tenko being bullied made that fear die. Tenko had literally never done anything horrible to anyone.
“Y-You’re pretending… To be friendly. I know how this works. Liar. Not gonna h-hurt me.”
“Did someone in this class hurt you? Name them.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
Touya wanted to burn something. Namely, the culprit. “It does matter!”
“You’re…no different. Leave.”
“I…”
“Makes no sense that you wanna pretend being friends now. Bored of your groupies?” Tenko asked, raising his head up and peering at Touya with a scorching glare. “Fuck. Off.”
“Ok… I’m going to leave, but I’m doing this to respect your boundaries. If I were trying to play pretend, then I’d try to stay and keep making attempts. I was just going to ask if you wanted to try syncing your soul with me. You haven’t tried yet. You’re the only meister in this class who hasn’t.”
Tenko’s eyes widened, dumbfounded. “M-Me?”
“Yeah, you’re good at theory, and I’m kind of good at that, and practical as well. You’re better at theory, though, so we could make a great team. You’d be the brain to my brawn and all that. What better type of duo is there?” Words just sort of poured out. Lies, because he couldn’t bring himself to tell Tenko that he sensed that they could connect. It was too weird.
Tenko shook a bit more, and rubbed at his own neck, lowering his head so that strands of hair fell over his eyes, as if to hide. “P-Please just go away. S-Stop teasing me.”
Touya left, his heart breaking as he did. There was no getting through to someone that paranoid and afraid on the first attempt. And he hated that no one was helping Tenko see that the world wasn’t against him. But it wasn’t easy when the entire class either acted as if Tenko was a ghost, or mocked him.
One day Touya would perhaps get through to Tenko. But he wasn’t going to pressure him if it freaked Tenko out. He wasn’t sure what to do, at a loss. Because after his interaction with him, the mutterings of his peers about Tenko got worse. With some of their peers even thinking that Touya had approached him as a joke, just as Tenko had assumed. Touya kept denying it, but nobody believed him, especially not Tenko himself.
And the burns from sync attempts suddenly got so bad that the teacher actually forbid it. Still, in secret, meisters would try. All would end in failure.
And when Touya looked in the mirror one morning, he saw locks of white in his red hair, and smiled. He had always hated the red.
*
While he had been walking to class, late because of having been lectured by his father before leaving the house about refusing to dye the few locks of white to red, a guy approached Touya. A guy who was in his class, who seemed to be all muscle. Called himself Muscular or some stupid shit. He fell in step with Touya, and chuckled as he said, “So are you seriously gonna prank that freaky bitch anytime soon or what?”
“Was never going to in the first place.”
“Pfft, sure, man! That little skank fucking scratched me! Like seriously, can you imagine? He’s lucky that a teacher showed up because I would have pummelled his ass and buried him! Weak little twig like him would go down easily!”
Touya eyed Muscular, and indeed his face did seem to have angry marks on it. Touya felt no sympathy, but did feel something hot and sinister. It made his lips twitch, and his fingers. Made his arms feel warm.
“Why did he scratch you?” Tenko didn’t seem violent. Not even a little.
“I was just having a conversation with him in the locker-room of the gym, and he totally flipped out at me! Fucking freak. Even accused me of being a fruit. Can you imagine? But hey, he looks like enough of a girl—”
No one else was in the hallway, so no one saw when Touya turned and pushed Muscular against a wall, a smoking hand wrapped around his throat. “If I activate my flames then say goodbye to your ability to speak for good,” Touya said, smirking so wide that his cheeks hurt, as he drank in the fear in the pathetic guy’s eyes. “Nod if you understand. And if you do anything stupid then I’ll literally burn you alive. And you know I can do it. I already proved to the class that I can burn flesh, and my flames can burn much more.”
Muscular nodded, keeping his mouth shut.
“Good. Now, you’re going to listen to me real closely, because I’ll only say this once… Stay away from Tenko. Don’t talk to him, don’t even talk about him. Go near him, and you’re dead! Understand?”
Muscular nodded, too afraid and shocked to speak. And he smelt bad, too. Had probably wet himself. Good.
“Glad that we had this little talk. Oh, and if you mention this to anyone then I’ll melt off your dick. Got that?”
Another nod.
“Great. Now get out of my sight and clean yourself up. You reek of piss.”
When Touya got to class, he was in a great mood, and no one knew why. His peers joked that he had a crush, which Touya denied. It was weird how good he felt. How much he had loved threatening someone who had probably attempted to do something with Tenko.
The idea made Touya’s blood boil. And he had let Muscular off way too easily. Besides, Tenko had fought the guy off, and he deserved to destroy Muscular himself. Touya couldn’t take that away from him.
All the while he was aware of how crazy he was acting, and knew that he was getting further away from trying to get closer to Tenko, because Tenko wouldn’t like an unhinged freak. No one would like that kind of version of Touya. And Tenko probably wouldn’t like any version of him. Touya didn’t like himself either, so he could at least agree, even if it hurt.
*
“You have to try harder to sync, boy! You’re definitely burning them on purpose! What the fuck is wrong with you?! Your youngest brother has a meister, you know? The legacy of this family will be carried on through him, since you’re proving to be unable to carry the torch. A son who can’t control his own flames is useless to me. Get out of my sight.”
Touya’s hair turned fully white by then. And he had learnt how to use the blue flames during fighting practise, out of his weapon form, because of course no one could wield him in weapon form so he couldn’t perfect them so he made do. And even his own family members couldn’t stand wielding him, a sign of just how broken of a weapon he was. Useless, pathetic, uncontrollable. Undeserving of the Todoroki name.
So Touya went to class with a ‘fuck it’ attitude, and sat down next to Tenko. This time he didn’t try to converse with Tenko, and instead burrowed his face in his arms, and simply breathed.
Where had Touya gone wrong? Nothing was going right in his life. He was losing his mind, wasn’t he? His disregard for his peers was unsettling. He seriously didn’t care about them. Didn’t care if he burnt them. He was going crazy, like his mother. One day he’d be locked away just like her. Locked away in secret, because the general public didn’t know of her little ‘episode’, when she had burnt her youngest son with hot water, snapping from a mental strain. A mental strain that Touya was growing familiar with. Maybe he’d snap too, but instead he’d pour the hot water on himself.
“Wish I wasn’t a Todoroki,” Touya quietly mumbled.
Tenko didn’t say anything, so Touya rose his head and looked at him. And Tenko looked back, confused and a little…concerned. Oh. Huh. Tenko was concerned about him? There was no need to be. And it made Touya feel funny. All jittery, but Touya felt jittery around Tenko anyway.
“…W-Why not?” Tenko rasped out, slowly.
“Shitty dad.”
“Ahh,” replied Tenko, in understanding.
“Endeavor isn’t at all what his public figure appears to be. Dude preaches about the importance of family, when really we’re just dolls in a dollhouse of his own creation. Want to burn it all to the ground, ya know? Burn that dollhouse to ash.”
Tenko’s eyes widened, gleaming, as if he was meeting Touya for the first time.
“Ha… Didn’t mean to overshare. Sorry. Must be weird.”
“It’s…ok. U-Umm, is he really that bad?”
Touya was relieved that Tenko was actually attempting to carry the conversation, even if it was a heavy subject for Touya. But hey, if his suffering meant a chance to speak with Tenko then sure, he was fine with it. “The worst. He married a meister just to make freakish half kids, not that it worked how he wanted it to. I can fight alone, but I lean towards my weapon side and can’t use ice like my mother could. But my flames burn stronger than my father’s, and the prick will never be on my level.”
“What a…shitbag,” Tenko said slowly, and then looked afraid, as if he had said something he shouldn’t have.
But Touya grinned at him, and nodded in agreement. “Yup, a pile of festering shit is what my old man has always been. It’s only as I’ve gotten older, that I’ve been able to see it. If only the world could, too. My siblings still seem a bit blind.”
“…They’ll smell the festering shit for what he is soon enough.”
Touya chuckled, and wasn’t sure when the last time he had laughed genuinely was. “See? You totally get it. Wish I didn’t have a dad.”
“Mm, I don’t.”
“Oh?”
“Died.”
“U-Umm? I’m sorry?”
Tenko didn’t look upset. He just shook his head and murmured, “He deserved it.”
“Huh… I’ll take your word for it.”
“Used to think he didn’t. Kids tend to accept things they shouldn’t. I’m realising a lot, too. Something we have in common.” Tenko seemed more confident, too, talking about this with Touya. More sure of himself. “Character growth.”
“’Character growth’? Huh. That’s a good way to put it.”
Tenko smiled, and it was a small smile, but all the same it made Touya’s heart race. An unsure smile, as if Tenko wasn’t sure how to smile. And that was the saddest thing. “The more we level up, the more we age, the more experience we get. Sometimes bad men deserve to die.”
Oh, he gets me. He gets me so much! He understands me!
“Ha, don’t go saying that in front of any teachers now. You could get in trouble,” Touya murmured with a sly smile.
“I’m also experienced enough to know when to hide things. No one suspects the quiet kids.”
“Don’t they? Heard some of our peers calling you a witch.”
“That may be so, but teachers don’t suspect the quiet kids.”
“Good point.” To them, an obviously anxious student isn’t an issue. The more quiet students, the better. But it’s usually the quieter students that needed the most help, but couldn’t quite muster up the courage to reach out. Touya was reaching out to Tenko, though. He wouldn’t be like those teachers, or his peers, and it seemed that Tenko was gently taking that hand, putting a small amount of trust in him.
Touya wasn’t sure where to go on from here. But he wasn’t going to let Tenko down.
*
Every day from then on, Touya would sit next to Tenko. As if via unspoken agreement. The first few times, Tenko glared at him silently, as if willing him to leave, but Touya stayed, and Tenko would always drop the glare in favour of conversation. Because it turned out that Touya and Tenko shared a few things in common, like their questionable morals, shitty fathers, and love for video games. Though it was clear that Tenko was so much more well-versed in video games, recommending ones to Touya that Touya had never heard of.
Touya would try those games, and would always find that he enjoyed them, as Tenko seemed like an expert in terms of recommendations. And when Touya would tell Tenko that he had indeed played the games, Tenko would be so shocked, as if not believing that Touya would have done such a thing. And then he’d get embarrassed, and shake a little, but would always calm down when Touya would bring up aspects about the game. Tenko always calmed down when he had something to focus on that he knew a lot about.
It was like the world was blurry, asides from Tenko. Everyone else was meaningless. A mix of sound and colour. Tenko sometimes called them ‘NPCs’, and it felt all too accurate. And Touya stopped letting meisters try to sync with him, and never brought up resonating to Tenko. Their friendship was too fragile for that just yet.
During practical work, Touya and Tenko would go off together and practise fighting. Touya never used his flames around Tenko, unless if Tenko asked him to hit targets, which Touya was always quick to do, incinerating them, much to Tenko’s delight. And Tenko’s glee for his blue flames made Touya want to show off, so he even did flashy tricks with his flames, like form rings and shapes with them. Something that was useless in battle, and specifically made just to see Tenko’s awe.
The two always partnered up for activities, and Tenko even confessed that one of the many reasons he got bad grades for practical work was because their class had an odd number of students, therefore Tenko would never have a partner because no one liked him, and the teacher would forget all about him.
“You’re smoking, Touya,” Tenko pointed out, as they stood in the field away from the others.
Touya seethed, and didn’t try to force the smoke away. He let his emotions burn. “You fail practical lessons because our teacher is incompetent, not because you did anything wrong,” Touya told him, through gritted his teeth, feeling desperate to make Tenko understand.
Tenko backed away a little. “I-I… It’s ok. Used to it. Why are you getting so worked up?”
“’Cause it’s bullshit!” Touya exclaimed, shooting a blue fireball up into the sky. “Why are people so horrible to you?! You’ve literally never done anything wrong!”
“B-But I’m… It’s clear that I’m different,” Tenko said nervously.
Touya took in a deep breath, wanting to calm down so that Tenko wouldn’t be afraid. Tenko didn’t yet understand that Touya would never dare hurt him. It wasn’t Tenko’s fault, because Touya was aware that he looked scary when he got angry.
“You… You’re really not. Not in the way they think. You’re quick on your feet, Tenko, and your reflexes are amazing! You’ll be a great meister! You’ve just never been given a chance to show what you can do, always left out. Partner-work is stupid anyway in most of these graded activities. Makes no sense when no one here are true partners. We should be graded on what we can individually do right now.”
“I guess…”
“You don’t believe me, but you’ll see how useless most of this stuff is eventually. It’s amazing how much bullshit they stuff into the school curriculum. Like how about they teach us the stuff that’s actually important. Like, oh, I don’t know, how to fight for real? Fuck this buddy-buddy shit.”
“Won’t matter until we all sync up. Like you said.”
They didn’t say anything after that. Neither wanting to bring the topic of soul wavelengths up. Neither wanting to actually talk about it, even if it’s what made Touya want to get close to Tenko in the first place. Tenko, who Touya was sure could sync his soul with him perfectly. But Tenko didn’t yet trust him enough, and Touya couldn’t push him too far no matter what.
Later that night, Touya’s dad yelled at him again. Nothing new. Yadda yadda. Blah blah blah. The entire time, Touya tuned it out, mind repeating:
I won’t accept anyone less than Tenko. Just Tenko. Tenko. Tenko. Tenko. No one else.
He didn’t tell anyone. Didn’t even tell his sister. Something within him was getting more intense, yearning for Tenko. To the point that Touya felt as if he knew that Tenko had the ability to sync with him. The feeling was so intense that Touya was sure that it’d choke him.
But he kept quiet about it around Tenko.
That and the blooming warmth whenever Tenko shot him a smile, or joked with him, or did anything at all. Tenko could kill a man and Touya would still feel that warmth, he was sure.
There was something seriously wrong with Touya, wasn’t there? It was as if he was…
*
Out of the blue, a squadron of witches attacked the school during the lessons. It was so sudden that the school fell into chaos, with students screaming and running around like headless chickens, and with teachers trying to get order, while trying to escort them out to safety.
Some students had the balls to actually try fighting the witches, the ones that had managed to sync their soul wavelengths. Touya and Tenko were racing down a hallway when they watched as a witch with clawed hands tore a pair apart who had dared challenge her. And she set her sights on them, who had been trying to escape.
Flames licked at Touya’s arms, and he instinctively stood in front of Tenko. “You run, and I’ll hold her off while you escape.”
The witch giggled, moving closer, slowly, as if wanting to savour the fight.
A warm hand rested on Touya’s shoulder, and then Tenko moved to stand next to Touya, a determined look in his red eyes, not hiding them under his hair when it was just him and Touya. “Touya…try to sync your soul with mine.”
“R-Really?! But are you sure that—”
Tenko shot him a cocky grin, and nodded. “I think our friendship rank is high enough, don’t you?”
“…Alright. But if your hands start burning then drop me. It’s fine. Let’s go, Tenko!”
Touya transformed, and when he landed in Tenko’s waiting hands, a spark raced through Touya—a great warm spark, a burst of positive sensations. No discomfort, just the feel of another’s soul linking with his, establishing a connection, as if the two were shaking hands, neither overpowering the other with their energy.
And Tenko’s soul was strong, and blazed. It burned so bright, containing strange untapped power that Touya couldn’t make sense of now, but didn’t have to. All that mattered was that they were on the same wavelength, and Tenko’s hands weren’t being burnt at all. His gloves didn’t smoke, and Tenko didn’t feel any discomfort.
A perfect soul connection had been established. Their wavelengths clicked together like two perfect gears in a clock, made for each other.
The witch is so fucked.
Tenko grinned, agreeing with Touya. It was so strange but their thoughts were connected, as if they were one. But Touya didn’t hate it.
Then let’s show her what we can do, huh?
As one, they lunged at the woman with Tenko swinging Touya up over his head, meeting her as she leapt at them with her claws—and Tenko swung Touya down, with blue flames spluttering out, slicing through her, with the flames taking care of the rest, hungrily eating at her body until she was reduced to ash.
It was over quickly. So quickly, that the two thirsted for more.
They spied another witch down the hallway, horrified by the scene, and the duo raced at her with intense hunger to destroy, decay, cremate.
They wanted the same things. They end this one as well, quickly.
Weapons eat souls, you know? And witches souls make them oh so much more powerful. Hey, there’s two of them. If I eat them, then let’s keep it a secret. Our secret. Ok, Tenko?
Of course. Tell me how they taste, afterwards, in comparison to those foul souls, Kishin eggs.
Ha… Never eaten a Kishin egg. To graduate I heard that you need a shit ton of Kishin egg souls, and one witch soul. We’re already gonna be ahead. We’ll be unstoppable, and they won’t even know. These souls are for us. Our own power.
The world won’t be able to stop us and our partnership, Touya.
Touya’s heart fluttered at the use of his first name. He hoped that Tenko hadn’t sensed it through their connection.
When the siege on the school was over, a few students had been proclaimed dead, and the witches had retreated. No one found out about Touya’s consumption about the two witch souls, and the two would exchange secretive smirks, giggling like children because they knew a secret that no one else did.
But everyone was shocked to find that Touya and ‘inferior’ Tenko had managed to sync up, and had decided to be partners.
It was all sunshine and roses, until Touya got home to the sight of his entire family waiting for him, looking grave, with his father at the head of the table, his fury palpable.
“You won’t ever go near that boy ever again.”
“You can’t stop me, we’re already partners so—” Touya had said, drunk on power and excitement for his future as Tenko’s weapon. So delirious from everything that he couldn’t dodge the flames.
Didn’t manage to dodge anything else, either.
The whole while, anger rippled through him, because all of his siblings looked away, and didn’t raise a hand to help. Just like their mother.
Touya thought about Tenko, and the idea of shunning him hurt too much—so Touya fought back, with blue flames. He’d fight for Tenko, if he had to. He wouldn’t abandon him. He wouldn’t be like everyone else in this shitty world.
And for once the one afraid was his father, not Touya. But Touya’s siblings too, looked at Touya with fear, as if there was something wrong with him. As if their father’s abusive behaviour was somehow fine, but his wasn’t. And there was something wrong with Touya, but someone had driven him to this point. If anyone was to blame, it was the great Enji Todoroki, king of how not to raise kids. King of creating Frankenstein children.
Touya’s father screamed out as blue flames licked at his skin, scorching it, but Touya didn’t use enough heat for it to devour him. No, that would be too easy, and he couldn’t attend school if he was put in prison for murder.
“Listen to me, dear old dad. You’re never going to hit me, or the other useless sacks of shit cowering under the table. You’re going to leave me alone, and I’m going to keep Tenko Shimura as my partner. I won’t have anyone else,” Touya said, grinning at his father widely until his cheeks hurt. “Understand? Great! Your skin will probably heal, but hey, blue flames are stronger than red. Don’t think you’ll heal as well as I have from yours. You might want to invest in some good foundation to cover those up… Wouldn’t want the press to figure out that your kid is a freak, right?”
Then Touya went to his room, packed, and then left for the school dorms.
Dorms that Tenko was staying at, who opened his door rubbing his eyes, weary to be woken up so late. Tenko startled upon seeing a grinning and burnt Touya at his door, and was quick to usher him inside.
Tenko didn’t say anything as he dealt with Touya’s wounds, and Touya kept quiet, focused on the sensation of Tenko gently touching him and nothing else.
If Touya had spoken, then maybe he would have fallen apart.
And Tenko deserved a partner who was strong.
*
While staying together, their connection only got stronger. To the point that they were moved into an advanced class, which both were glad about. New peers, and a new start. Well, once again people flocked to Touya, all wanting to be associated with a Todoroki, but Touya would glare at them to back off whenever Tenko showed signs of stress. And Touya’s glare was frigidly cold, with a warning of danger if anyone overstepped their boundaries.
“You can…sit with them you know, sometimes,” Tenko murmured to Touya.
“Why? I want to sit with you. You’re my partner, and my friend, Tenko. I don’t need anyone else.”
Tenko hid his face, and muttered, “Y-You can have other friends, too. It’s ok.”
“It won’t feel right if you’re not by my side.”
“…Makes no sense…”
“You’re way better than any of these losers, anyway. Let’s show them what they’re dealing with when the time comes.”
And time and time again, their ability to sync no matter the circumstances, and to have a perfect flow, was leagues above everyone else. To the point that less people bitched about Tenko, and actually saw him for what he could do.
Classmates actually tried to talk to Tenko, and Touya found that he didn’t like it when they approached him. He wanted them to go away, but would keep quiet and play nice if Tenko didn’t seem anxious.
He soon realised that it made Touya jealous when someone talked to Tenko. Not because he himself wasn’t receiving attention, but because it meant Tenko was giving him less attention. And he wanted Tenko’s eyes on him always.
It never became too much of an issue, because even when Tenko talked to someone else, his eyes would keep straying to Touya, worried. Not because he was afraid, but because it seemed like Tenko got worried that Touya was being left out. And funnily enough, Tenko became the one out of their duo that was the most approachable, not the Todoroki that seemed ready to attack anyone if they weren’t careful with how they approached Tenko.
The polite Touya Todoroki persona was crumbling fast, and Touya was starting to feel like he could be himself for the first time. And it seemed that his real self was far colder than the kind-hearted Tenko, who people used to theorise was a witch masquerading as a meister. Strange how things worked out.
People stopped trying to befriend Touya, instead going for Tenko. A good part of it, ignoring all the jealousy, was the fact that less people tried to bother the duo, and so Tenko seemed more comfortable. For that, Touya could endure the burning jealousy. All that mattered was that Tenko was getting more confident, and as a result was becoming happier. He was still socially anxious, of course, but seemed to manage it better.
“It’s because I know that you’re always here,” Tenko murmured to him, one night while the two sat on the couch in their dorm watching some anime movie. “You…make me feel strong.”
Touya’s heart fluttered and raced. “O-Oh?”
Tenko smiled at him, and nodded. He then lay his head on Touya’s shoulder, who felt as if he had to pinch himself to check if he was dreaming. “Thank you…for being my friend, Touya.”
Was it wrong that Touya, perhaps, maybe, wanted more than that?
He settled for it, because there was no point wanting more. Relationships that were more intimate just led to disaster, especially between meisters and weapons. There was no point trying.
And yet, Touya yearned for it.
*
In the advanced class, sometimes students would be selected to go on special missions. Touya and Tenko, of course, were the first ones picked to go investigate an area plagued with a series of murders.
They managed to track down the murderer, and deal with them swiftly, of course. And after Touya had eaten their soul (which he was allowed to do via the school rules, as if it was a Kishin egg then it was ok, as they were the most foul of souls), Tenko asked, “What happens if you consume the soul of an ordinary human? Not the soul of a murderer?”
“’Weapons must not take the soul of anyone not on a Shinigami’s list,’” Touya recited, grinning widely.
“I know that! I get better grades than you with book work, but what would actually happen to you?”
“I’d probably turn into a Kishin egg myself. I think I’d need a lot in order to become one, though. A lot of souls of good people. Though what even is a ‘good’ soul like? I just assume it’s everyone who hasn’t committed mass murder. I don’t believe in ‘pure’ souls. I think meisters can become Kishin too, if they eat souls.”
“Huh…”
“Why? Want to test out a few theories?” Touya asked with a grin, giddy at potentially doing something illegal.
“Of course not. I was just…curious.”
“Well if you become a Kishin, then I’ll follow after you.”
Tenko shot him an annoyed look. “Don’t say things like that.”
“Hmm? Like what?”
“I’d want you to stay as you are, not become a Kishin for me. If I jumped off a cliff, then would you follow?”
“I would,” Touya said, without missing a beat.
Tenko’s face reddened, and he hid it behind his hands and huffed.
Maybe Touya should have asked why Tenko was so curious about Kishin, but he had been too distracted by flustering his meister.
*
A new doctor started at the school. Around the same time, Tenko started to get sick, so he visited the infirmary a lot, and Touya would wait outside, forbidden to go in, as that was the rules of the infirmary made by the doctor.
But Tenko only got worse, his skin paling, and dealing with constant headaches and nausea. He’d sit around in their dorm, spacing out, and would grab Touya’s hand and squeeze, as if afraid that he’d leave if he didn’t.
“I’ll always be here for you, Tenko,” Touya would tell him, constantly.
It broke Touya’s heart that he had no idea what was going on with Tenko.
When Tenko did seem to get better, Touya was relieved. But felt hollow when Tenko would smile at him, and that smile wouldn’t be genuine. Their connection weakened, as if their wavelengths were out of sync, because it was as if Tenko’s soul would close itself off, weakening their connection.
“Maybe you should find another meister,” Tenko mumbled out one night, clutching onto Touya’s hand. He had fallen ill again. It seemed worse, and Tenko seemed to be in pain. “It…will infect you, too. It’d kill us both.”
“I thought it wasn’t infectious?”
“Different kind of sickness. You’ll die, alongside me.”
Touya shushed him and gently ran a hand through Tenko’s black locks, glad when Tenko didn’t shy away from the contact, and instead seemed soothed by it.
“You’ll be fine, Tenko. You’ll get better again. It’s just a relapse, and the drugs are making you a bit loopy.”
Tenko made an affirmative sound, and closed his eyes, accepting Touya’s words as the truth.
When Tenko recovered enough for them to go out in the field, Tenko stopped during a fight against a maniac, and was stabbed before Touya could react. Black blood dribbled out of Tenko, who collapsed, and Touya torched the maniac alive.
Touya didn’t tell anyone about the black blood, afraid about what they might do. He tended to Tenko, but Tenko was quick to go to the infirmary once he had woken, intent, and reassuring Touya that the doctor already knew.
It hurt that Touya hadn’t been told about it, and he grew upset when Tenko didn’t elaborate on the black blood.
And one day, during Tenko’s delirium, he finally did. “Father wants to make me into a full Kishin, but then I met you. If I were to become one, then you’d be in danger, as my weapon. The black blood will pass through our connection, and I don’t want it to infect you.”
Touya pulled him into his arms, then, burying his head into Tenko’s hair to hide his own falling tears. “Idiot. Should have told me about this sooner.”
“You know now, so find a different meister.”
“You know I won’t do that. I can’t. I’d sooner burn everyone else. So connect with me, fully. Let the black blood take me, I don’t care. I just want to be with you.”
“But I could lose you, Touya. It could kill us both.”
“I don’t give a shit. You’re already infected, so sign me up too. We’re partners, after all.”
“You’re so stupid,” Tenko mumbled out, sniffling. “Stupid idiot.”
“Ha, that makes two of us. What a pair we make. So let’s go see that doctor, huh?”
*
The doctor was a suspicious-looking balding man, with leering eyes, who looked freaked out when the two entered the infirmary together.
“You told him?!” the doctor squawked out.
Touya grinned and cracked his knuckles. “If I didn’t know any better, then I’d say that you wanted Tenko to infect me without me knowing, right? But he fought it, because Tenko is way too kind. So, you’re going to give me some answers or I’ll roast you alive.”
“Don’t kill him,” Tenko mumbled.
“I won’t. Besides, torture is more fun.”
Instead of grovelling at Touya’s feet, the doctor hit a button under his desk: a panic button. And alarms went off, making the duo tense up. “Ohoho! You children think you’re so smart, huh? And Tenko, you naughty child! Your father is going to be so disappointed in you!”
Flames swirled around Touya, as smoke leaked out of him, but Tenko raised a hand, not allowing him to unleash his rage. “Thought your father was dead,” Touya said to Tenko.
“Different father. I’m adopted.”
“Ah. Maybe you should kill your current one.”
Tenko looked offended, glaring at Touya. “But he gave me a better life, and because of him I’m here today.”
“Sounds like he also wants to make you into a Kishin.”
“Because it’s the only way I can get revenge on the world! I want to be one! I’m doing this for myself!”
Touya wasn’t convinced. “It’s pretty easy to manipulate people into doing things, and making them think that they want to do it. I don’t believe you.”
“Well it doesn’t matter what you think!”
“It does, because we’re partners.”
“Doesn’t mean anything! Doesn’t have anything to do with my personal life!”
“Then because we’re friends, and I care about you. Your father sounds like a bastard.”
Tenko growled at Touya, fingers twitching, beyond pissed off, but it didn’t matter what he felt, as the infirmary doors burst open, and military men marched into the room, followed by none other than Endeavor.
“Your son tried to attack me! He’s totally lost it!” the doctor exclaimed.
And Touya’s arms were smoking enough that it only painted him as guilty. “To be fair, I was about to attack him, I didn’t try just yet. Totally different,” Touya joked with a wide grin, raising his hands up in surrender.
“You’ll be locked up for this, boy,” his father spat out. But he seemed to be enjoying this. “Just like your mother.”
It dawned on Touya how dire the situation was. There was no more attending classes, or attending school at all. Gone was his days being a student, being Tenko’s weapon. All of it had gone up in flames, because of a grudge that his father had for him, and because of a pathetic doctor.
“Tenko, we’re going to fight, and we’re going to run away together.”
Tenko held a hand out, perhaps realising as much as Touya did. “R-Right. Touya, sync with me.”
Touya grinned wickedly as he turned into his weapon form, and his connection to Tenko crackled, with Tenko finally letting him in. But from Tenko’s side of the connection, something black and foreign burst across, and Touya let out a pained hiss, but tried to keep quiet and calm, for Tenko’s sake.
It was hard to keep calm when Touya felt as if water was rising around him, and then it pulled him under, drowning him. The black blood was everywhere, and he couldn’t keep it out. He accepted it, because this is what Tenko had to deal with every day.
He couldn’t seem to see what was happening in the real world. As if his senses to it had been shut off, and he could hardly feel Tenko’s soul.
He felt exhausted, and his consciousness faded, giving himself away to the black blood completely.
*
When Touya woke up, he felt different. Tenko was gone, and Touya was chained up and felt like he was injured in some way. He couldn’t change out of his weapon form, so he wasn’t sure what was wrong. But he knew he was imprisoned under the school.
He couldn’t sense Tenko at all.
“Your meister’s dead, so let me wield you,” someone told him. So Touya burned them alive when they tried. And wept.
If Tenko was dead, then so was Touya.
Touya crumbled away, and from the ashes rose up Dabi. Dabi, a black Kishin sword, who would burn meisters alive when he rejected them. Dabi, a sword that had once been silver, wielded by a boy with charcoal hair and ruby eyes.
Dabi, who soon forgot who Tenko even was.
Dabi, who forgot what he had been so upset about in the first place, and couldn’t remember if he had lost anybody at all, or if it had all been a dream.
*
The walls of the dark halls shook, and Dabi’s chains clanked. Something was shaking the school above. An attack, perhaps? Dabi was giddy for an intruder to come find him, so he could scorch them. He’d eat their soul after. He always did. All human souls tasted the same. Was there even a difference between souls? They weren’t as tasty as the soul of a witch.
Screams were heard, and Dabi shook with anticipation for his next meal. He wanted to eat a truly foul soul, to see if it tasted any better. Maybe an innocent soul would be best. He wanted to consume any and every soul he could.
The doors to Dabi’s prison opened, and in stepped a man in black. A man with cyan hair, close to white, with a fake hand over their eyes (or was it real). There was many hands on this man. An interesting outfit choice, not that it mattered.
“…You are the Kishin weapon?” the man asked, with a croaky voice, keeping a distance from the barrier and the sword within.
Dabi let out a laugh, not being able to help it, and it echoed in the dusty room. “I am indeed the Kishin weapon, Dabi. If you don’t perish to my flames, then you’ll have ultimate power.” And of course how could anyone turn down that sweet deal?
The stranger had gloves on their hands, and they peeled them off. “Oh? Power, you say? Well if you don’t decay to my touch, then you’ll have a strong meister to wield you, and take you away from this dreary place.”
Dabi didn’t need a meister. He wasn’t sure why. He just knew he’d rather stay here than bow down to someone else. “Go ahead and try.”
The man approached, and touched the barrier, and it shattered easily under their hands. Then they touched the chains, and those melted away, freeing Dabi. After Dabi was freed, that’s when they reached out, pressing all fingers down on the hilt slowly, as if giving Dabi a chance to get away if he wanted it—but Dabi didn’t much care if he did get decayed. He’d rather die than become a weapon for a meister.
Their wavelengths collided—their souls connected—and Dabi wasn’t decayed, and the man wasn’t set ablaze.
This man is a Kishin meister. Huh.
“I’m Shigaraki,” the man said, holding the sword tentatively. “And I want to consume souls as much as you do. Join me, Dabi. Join the League, and work with me, and you’ll never go hungry or be chained up ever again.”
“…I won’t follow your rules. I’ll do my own thing.”
“But you’ll sometimes play along?”
“If I feel like it.”
Shigaraki grinned, his mouth visible from underneath the hand. “Good enough for me, Dabi. Let’s get out of this hellhole.”
*
There were other weapons and meisters in the League. Everyone had joined for their own reasons, not that Dabi cared about their sob stories. Shigaraki could use any type of weapon, it turned out, so he switched his partner a lot, much to the dismay of their enemies. Dabi and Shigaraki didn’t often work together, but when they did, no one could stop them. And the weird thing was, is that Shigaraki didn’t give him shit for not giving his life for him in dire situations. When Shigaraki would do that exact thing for Dabi, despite hardly knowing him.
Dabi wished he wouldn’t. Dabi vowed to never do the same thing. He didn’t owe Shigaraki shit, and Shigaraki never talked about it. They tended to argue. They never actually stopped and had actual conversations. It was either trading insults, or all business talk. No personal stuff. Dabi mostly ignored everyone else in the League. He almost set Spinner on fire for suggesting that he should try and wield Dabi himself, which had made Dabi feel insulted.
Only Shigaraki was allowed to use Dabi, and even then he was on thin ice. Because maybe one day Dabi would set him ablaze. And Shigaraki definitely knew this, because things passed through their connection, but he didn’t seem to care.
Shigaraki trusted him, and he made Dabi aware of it. And Dabi hated him for it. But even so, he never burnt Shigaraki even once, and Shigaraki never decayed him.
Strangely, Shigaraki wore gloves when using everyone else. He never wore gloves when using Dabi.
“I know that I can control it when I’m wielding you. I can control the decay,” Shigaraki told him once, after a battle. Dabi hadn’t asked, but Shigaraki had sensed the question. He was too perceptive sometimes. “You’re the only weapon that can’t be decayed by me when all five fingers touch. Take that as a compliment if you want, I don’t really care.”
Dabi didn’t take it as a compliment. It bothered him. But he never brought it up. Better to try and ignore it, and how weird it made him feel. The same kind of weird he felt when he saw Shigaraki’s gloves, or the few times he had caught sight of a red eye under that hand and all that fluffy hair.
He felt even more weird when one day, Shigaraki took off that hand to talk to the League, and Dabi was so distracted by the eyes and scarred face that he completely zoned out and couldn’t comprehend what Shigaraki was saying. Because those eyes made Dabi’s heart race, even if just a little. And that totally freaked Dabi out.
He squashed that feeling down and buried it. He was good at that.
*
They were alone together at the base. Alone because Shigaraki needed sleep, having bad insomnia during the nights, and so he needed to sleep in during the day. Alone because Dabi hadn’t felt like going out that day.
So they were alone together, and just as Dabi contemplated going out by himself, Shigaraki sat down next to him on the ratty couch.
Unprompted, Shigaraki said, “I had a weapon before all of this.”
“…” Dabi said nothing, and glanced at him, face as blank as he could make it, trying to make his expression bored. Trying not to seem as curious as he felt.
“It’s…funny, but I don’t remember much about them. The trauma of losing them was too much. I know I had a weapon, and I know I lost them, but my memories leading up to that are gone. Fractured. Just like the memories of my childhood. Losing them hurt too much. I think it broke me.”
“…You don’t seem so broken.”
Shigaraki grinned at him, and it looked bitter. “I recall you calling me a ‘broken freak’ at some point. And you’re right. It fucked me up pretty badly. Maybe that’s why I decay other weapons. But I think I wore gloves with them, too. It’s just… I wish I could remember. They’re dead now, so I guess there’s a reason why I don’t.”
“If you’re trying to get close to me with this mushy sob story, then it won’t work. I’m nothing like your dead weapon.”
“I think you lost someone too, a meister,” Shigaraki continued on, as if he hadn’t heard. “We’re alike.”
Dabi laughed at him, and hoped it sounded as twisted as he felt. He got to his feet, slipped his hands in his pockets, and stormed out with a, “We only sync because it’s convenient. Not for any other reason. It’s a give and take kind of deal.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” Shigaraki called out, to Dabi’s retreating form, mockingly.
*
Dabi had lost someone too. Shigaraki had reminded him of that. It made sense that it had been a meister, but Dabi couldn’t recall a single thing about them. Not even a name. They were just a ghost, haunting his thoughts.
Dabi watched as Shigaraki wielded Toga, a knife weapon, and his eyes never strayed from Shigaraki for long, as Shigaraki fought off a bunch of idiots claiming to be heroes. The heroes fell to the blade that was Toga, and she eagerly ate up the souls when the fight was over.
She clung to Shigaraki, showering him with compliments, and Dabi found that he wanted to burn her.
The next time that they encountered a group of heroes, Dabi shouldered past Toga, and headed right to Shigaraki. And Shigaraki didn’t complain or comment on Dabi’s eagerness to sync with him, and Dabi calmed down when they became one.
Their connection wasn’t as strong as it could be, because both always held secrets back behind barriers, but they still worked well together. A duo to be reckoned with, who became feared to the point that heroes would run when they spotted them together. Because a fight with the duo was a death-wish, ending in decay and cremation. A weapon and meister Kishin duo, the blade of the League.
Eventually, other weapons stopped being wielded by Shigaraki, staying away if Dabi was around. As if there was an unspoken agreement that when Dabi was there, only he would be wielded by Shigaraki. Nobody else.
“You keep scaring them away,” Shigaraki murmured to him, amused, as the two sat on the roof of the base and looked up at the stars. “Play nice, they’re your teammates.”
“They’re weaker than me.”
“Some of them are younger and less experienced, and all of you are good at something else.”
“Don’t care.”
“Ha, you just want me all to yourself,” Shigaraki said with a grin.
Dabi felt his cheeks warm up, and turned his head away. “Don’t say gross things like that.”
“Why? Maybe I like that you want me around. It makes me feel…special. Because you hate everyone else, but with me—”
“Keep talking and I’ll push you off.”
“Go ahead. I’ll drag you down with me.”
Dabi didn’t try, and Shigaraki had called his bluff. “You read too much into things. You’re strong, so of course I want you to wield me, in order to accomplish the League’s goals and burn down this shitty society.”
“Doesn’t explain the possessiveness. The jealousy…”
“Think whatever you want, even if it’s wrong.”
“It’s nice to be wanted, is all I’m saying,” Shigaraki murmured, with a small warm smile. “Makes me feel…nostalgic. Not sure why. Huh. I wonder if they made me feel that way, too.”
Dabi could somehow relate, and that was a scary thing.
*
It’s only when Dabi and Shigaraki stare down Endeavor, and his meister, All Might, that Dabi begins to remember the past. Remembers who Touya used to be, and all the abuse that Endeavor had put him through. Remembers that Touya had liked a boy named Tenko, who had been his meister, who had apparently died.
But he hadn’t seen Tenko die. He had been told that he had perished.
Whatever the case, it was Endeavor’s involvement that had led to Dabi losing Tenko. And his bloodlust crackled through his link with Shigaraki, who was just as full of malicious intent, for both of the ‘heroes’.
Because of symbols like All Might, fucked up kids get swept under the rug. Unconventional meisters and weapons get shunned and ostracised. So these false idols all need to die, Shigaraki told Dabi over their connection.
Yeah, we’ll burn all these false heroes to ash.
As one, they struck down All Might, and Dabi melted away some of Endeavor, allowing his flames to be at full force of their heat. But All Might, of course, got back up, and as he charged at the duo to try and smite them, a strange man appeared, and knocked All Might back.
“All For One!” Shigaraki said gleefully, his excitement crackling across the connection. This was the man who had adopted him.
Memories leaked out from a locked box, and Dabi was struck with a sense of familiarity. The full picture wasn’t there yet, but he hated All For One instantly.
“Kurogiri, get them to safety. I’ll be the one to strike down All Might.”
“M-Master, no!” Shigaraki cried out, panicking, even more so when All For One turned to him, and smiled.
“My boy, you’re not yet ready, and soon you’ll be a real man. You’re about to become much more independent, and I know you’re perfectly capable of it. Goodbye, Tomura. I love you, my son.”
Shigaraki screamed out, as he and Dabi were warped away by a misty man named Kurogiri, who seemed like more of a father to him than a sketchy bastard like All For One. The despair leaked across the connection, and Dabi felt choked by it, and was relieved when he was able to tear out of the connection, and be in his human form again.
Dabi didn’t try comforting him, because Shigaraki was beyond it, as he lay in a fetal position on the floor, as Kurogiri said soothing words to him. Dabi sat next to Shigaraki, and rested a hand on his shoulder. He couldn’t comfort him, didn’t know how, but the least he could do for his partner was to be here for him, even if Shigaraki seemed blind to the world.
*
All Might and Endeavor weren’t killed, but All Might lost his power. Perhaps he had passed it on to another. And Endeavor’s skin was permanently marked, which made Dabi grin widely when he saw the burns on TV, as everyone sat in a bar.
Dabi had burns too. And staples that kept his skin stitched together. He could remember that Endeavor hadn’t caused them, and that Dabi had done it to himself at some point. Maybe when he had lost his meister. He could recall pain, and the feel of his own flesh melting away—he had tried to set himself on fire. He had tried to die. He had wanted to. His despair had been that great that it had nearly cost him his own life. But he had lived.
He wish he hadn’t.
He told Shigaraki so when the two were alone together.
“I’m glad you lived,” Shigaraki told him, caressing his cheek and rubbing a thumb under the staples of the burns under his eyes.
Dabi wanted Shigaraki to keep touching him, so that he could forget about what he had remembered. He told Shigaraki so. Told Shigaraki that he could do whatever he wanted to him. Kill him, even, so he didn’t have to deal with any of this.
“I can’t do that, but I can do this.”
Shigaraki kissed the side of his face, gently, oh so gentle. Dabi would have rather he’d been rough, so that Dabi wouldn’t have to deal with emotions. Wouldn’t have to feel his racing heart, or how woozy being around Shigaraki could make him feel. Flustered, as if he were a little kid with a dumb crush.
Dabi would have felt better if their relationship had been purely physical. If Shigaraki had used him for casual sex or something. But Shigaraki never did. Never kissed him or touched him violently. Instead he’d be gentle, and wouldn’t do anything further, all too aware when Dabi would get uncomfortable.
It made Dabi want to cry. The kindness that Shigaraki had for him. The fact that Shigaraki could read him so well, and was aware that intimacy terrified Dabi. It terrified Shigaraki, too, but unlike Dabi he didn’t freak out about it. He truly did trust Dabi, and that Dabi wouldn’t take advantage of him.
One night, Dabi let Shigaraki explore his bare chest with his hands, watching as those dangerous fingers caressed the skin by the staples, and were more gentle on the burnt skin, even if Dabi would have let him be more rough.
Shigaraki took his own shirt off, and said that Dabi could explore his scars.
Dabi’s hands shook, as his fingers slowly touched a jagged scar, and followed it down to Shigaraki’s side. Afraid that suddenly he might ignite, and burn Shigaraki to a crisp. But it never happened, and Shigaraki didn’t seem concerned.
This was a new kind of intimacy. It scared Dabi to no end. He felt so vulnerable, and wanted to cover Shigaraki up and get him to leave, afraid that he’d ignite him and consume his soul. They were both monsters, after all. Two hungry Kishin who had done horrible things. How could two Kishin ever coexist or be so soft without any strings attached?
“It’s ok, I trust you,” Shigaraki informed him quietly. “You won’t hurt me.”
“And how do you know that?”
“Because you were once Touya Todoroki, and Touya never hurt me.”
Dabi lurched back, as if a bomb had been dropped, and that bomb was Shigaraki. “W-What did you call me?”
“Touya,” Shigaraki said slowly, and there was tears in his eyes. “I guess I remembered before you did. I wanted to tell you, earlier, but you didn’t seem ready, and I felt so guilty. Because of me, you became a Kishin, and they locked you away. All For One took me away, and I started losing my memories. Maybe it was a side-effect of the black blood, but I guess we were both in the same boat. When I was a made into a Kishin, I went to the school, and found you again. I wasn’t sure why I had to attack the school, but now it makes sense. I think a part of me knew you were down there all alone. And finally, I have you back, even if so much has changed. Tenko might be gone, but he’s still a part of me—a part of my past. Tomura Shigaraki is in his place, and Shigaraki still cares about you and what you’ve become.”
Dabi sobbed, trying to stop himself, but he couldn’t help it. He cried out tears of blood, and leapt at Shigaraki, flinging his arms around him and clinging onto him. “You fucking idiot, Tenko! Making me cry! Or I guess it’s Shigaraki who’s the idiot!”
Shigaraki laughed, and sniffled. “You can call me Tomura, if you want. Or Tenko. It really doesn’t matter to me anymore. Doesn’t matter when I’ve finally found my way back to you, with all my memories returned.”
“What took you so long to find me, babe? Been waiting forever,” Dabi said, trying to lighten the mood.
“Ooh, so we’re on the nicknames stage of our relationship? How very intimate, Touya.”
Dabi huffed, embarrassed. “Just call me ‘Dabi’. ‘Touya’ makes me think about my father.”
“Noted. So what are we to each other now?”
“Whatever we want to be. We don’t have to define it.”
“But if you were to call it something…”
“Partners?”
Shigaraki laughed. “I suppose we are a form of that. But… I think that ‘boyfriends’ is much more fitting, don’t you?”
Dabi was sure that his own heart would explode. “U-Uhh, sure?”
“And I think you should kiss me.”
Dabi gulped, as Shigaraki moved so that they were nearly nose to nose, and Shigaraki looked absolutely blissful, to be so close to a monster. “O-Ok…” Dabi leaned in, and kissed Shigaraki, not allowing himself to hesitate too much.
He had feared kissing Shigaraki, had feared getting anywhere close to Tenko. But now, as they kissed, he found that he actually liked it. It felt right. It didn’t feel wrong, or fucked up. It felt like they were one, just as they were when they were syncing up their souls.
So Dabi kissed Shigaraki, and held him close, and thanked the gods that they had managed to find each other again, despite all the odds, and despite the black blood running through their veins. Nothing could keep them apart, as if they were star-crossed lovers defying a cruel fate.
*
Dabi, with a vengeance, broadcasted to the world, live, who he had used to be. He painted his hair white, so that not even his family could remain ignorant to the fact that he was alive. And to ruin the reputation of Touya Todoroki even more, Dabi revealed his Kishin status, and that he was indeed dating the most powerful Kishin meister in the world. The meister who had helped take down All Might.
He revealed all the abuse he had suffered at the hands of Endeavor, and the fact that he had tried to burn himself alive as a result, and that Endeavor hadn’t approved of Touya partnering with an ordinary meister (not that anything about Tenko had ever been ordinary, but it wasn’t the general public’s business to know the actual facts).
Eat the rich, and burn their legacies down to the ground. That was an ideal that Dabi lived by. He was beyond caring what became of the dregs of his family at this point. He wouldn’t go after them, unless if they got in the way. His father though would suffer, living with a shoddy reputation. And Dabi couldn’t be happier.
“I’m surprised you don’t want to kill him,” Shigaraki said, as the two lay in bed together, with Shigaraki running his hands through Dabi’s newly dyed white hair.
“Oh, I do, but his continuous suffering is better. Let him bleed out before I crush him into dust.”
“You know, you’re ridiculously attractive when you make threats, you know that?”
Dabi grinned, and then leaned over Shigaraki, his face hovering above his, with his hands on the pillow on either side of Shigaraki’s head, trapping him almost. “So you’re into that? How about I threaten you? I’m a dangerous man, you know,” he said lowly, grinning maliciously.
Shigaraki wasn’t fooled, and caressed Dabi’s cheek, gently, which always seemed to short-circuit Dabi’s brain, and cause his face to heat up a ridiculous amount. “Oh? A little difficult to do that kind of foreplay when you turn into jelly so easily.”
Dabi gasped when Shigaraki flipped him, so that their roles were reversed, with Shigaraki the one to hover over him, as Dabi’s heart raced. And Shigaraki laughed at Dabi’s embarrassed glare that he sent him. “Not so tough now.”
“Not fair. You’re smaller than me but your strength is insane,” Dabi complained.
“Meisters need to be strong, or we won’t be able to swing our weapons around. Of course I’m stronger than you. We train way more than weapons do.”
“Blah, blah, blah. Now who isn’t good at foreplay? You totally got distracted by being a bookworm.”
Shigaraki laughed, and leaned down to peck Dabi on the lips. “To be fair, we don’t have the most conventional sex life. Foreplay doesn’t seem to be for us, or I suppose it’s more roleplay than mere foreplay, and you get broken out of your bad boy persona so easily, and I do indeed go on rants. I don’t think it’d do much good if we try anything different. I’d vomit if we had to pretend to be a hero and a villain falling in love, and having a lot of sexual tension.”
“Geez, and now I’m even less in the mood to do anything fun.”
Shigaraki seemed to agree, and flopped back down to lie next to him. “Let’s just cuddle, then.”
“But doesn’t it bother you that we haven’t had sex in a month? Things keep getting in the way, and the vibe hasn’t been right, and we ruined it again.”
“I honestly like the cuddling part more than the sex part. I think you do, too. But you’re totally paranoid, and think that I actually care about whether or not we have sex. I can tell that most of the time you’d rather just spoon me. You’re a total softy, and I love you.”
Dabi buried his face in his own hands. “I hate when you know me better than I know myself.”
“Well I think it’s important that you know that I’m ok with the fact that we don’t have sex a lot. Like I want to make it so clear that you’ll stop being endlessly paranoid that I’ll leave you, or that I think that you’re not a good match for me. Because at the end of the day, Dabi, I wouldn’t rather be with anyone else. And I know that you feel the same way. Because I love you, Dabi. Now and always.”
Dabi hated that he cried as he replied, “I love you too, Tomura.” And he couldn’t be happier.
*
The Kishin duo threw society on the top of its head, all the while smiling. Upcoming duos tried to take them down, time and time again, but all failed to the decay and flames—their ability to sync, to resonate so that their flames and decay actually combined, was a horrifying thing. Because nobody ever believed that two Kishin could be so perfectly in sync until they saw it for themselves, and died as a result.
And when all hope seemed lost, the two turned on All For One, a man who had conquered the world with the duo as his loyal dogs. Kids from an academy, along with shocked League members, watched on, frozen on a bloody battlefield, as the Kishin duo switched from fighting them, to cutting All For One in two, unleashing his soul, and then the Kishin meister ate it, roaring with malicious laughter.
A great threat hadn’t been ended by any heroes at all, but the once loyal dogs. But they had never been loyal to the man for long, and had always been loyal to each other instead.
Just like that, the war ended. And the Kishin duo wandered off together, escaping consequences.
They got married, shortly after, with only the League attending the wedding.
On their honeymoon, they stole an entire statue of Endeavor from a museum, and dumped it in a swamp, before torching the museum dedicated to him to the ground. And funnily enough, the media absolutely loved it, because cancelling Endeavor had turned into the norm, and no one wanted to associate with him anymore. Not even a single business partner.
He ended up with a restraining order, and couldn’t even go near any of his family ever again, which Dabi heard from Toga who loved stalking people on social media, so she had all the latest gossip. Dabi threw a party on that day, upon hearing that, and danced with his husband, Shigaraki, until the sun rose.
Weirdly enough, Dabi’s siblings tried to contact him, but he ignored them.
One day, maybe, he’d let them back into his life. He didn’t understand why they bothered, with him being a Kishin, and having killed people. But whatever.
For now, he was just happy spending the rest of his life with Shigaraki, his one and only. And finally, Dabi felt free. Free to be himself, free to love Shigaraki (making up for not trying with Tenko), and free to live however he wanted.
And whenever his soul would sync with Shigaraki’s, and they resonated so strongly that they could attack as one, that’s when he felt the most at peace and alive. Because it’s all he had ever wanted, all he had ever wished for, and he kissed Shigaraki stupid, who returned the affection full force.
As he lay curled up in Shigaraki’s arms, as Shigaraki was the one to spoon him tonight, he grinned like a fool. He should have made a move on Tenko back then, back before their lives took a turn, but they could make up for lost time. They already had, and that was enough for him.
He wasn’t sure what they were going to do next, now that their fathers’ lives had been ruined in different ways, with all their hard work thrown aside, but for now, he was satisfied to just let Shigaraki hold him, just as he had always wanted.
Dabi was finally genuinely happy, for the first time in his life.
And Shigaraki seemed to feel the same way.
They were so lucky to have found each other, because Dabi wouldn’t trade Shigaraki for anyone else no matter what.
So he fell asleep, feeling warm, and sighed, finally dreaming good dreams.