#touya’s chapter is next!!!….. eventually

[touyafootfetish]

A Bond Between Brothers

Retracing Our Steps: Natsuo

series masterlist

“And what hurts the most is people can go from people you know to people you don't” - People You Know, Selena Gomez

a/n: my writing for natsuo is far from perfect but I imagine him trying to bond with shouto is a little awkward so bear with me 😭

Even though it’d been a few hours since everything went down, things had yet to settle down in and around the hospital. Walking back from the canteen, he tried desperately not to spill anything as nurses and doctors bumped into him.

They were speeding down the halls, still bringing in the injured that were caught up in the chaos that ensued in Jaku City. It looked like a lot of people weren’t able to evacuate in time. However, the crazy atmosphere of the hospital wasn’t what had Natsuo stopped in his tracks, though.

He’d passed a few people laying on gurneys in the hallways, waiting for available rooms. Their families were with them too, and they were crying. Crying because their loved ones had been injured— crying because they didn’t know if they’d make it or not.

Natsuo had cried like that once. When he heard that Touya had burned up and died on Sekoto Peak, he sobbed into his pillows of the bedroom once belonging to his brother. When he wasn’t at school or hanging out with Fuyumi, he’d sneak into Touya’s old bedroom and talk to himself as if he were talking to his brother. He used to act like he never even left as a way to cope.

When he got a little older though, he stopped doing that. It’s not like he ever got over what happened to Touya, so he wasn’t entirely sure why he stopped.

Instead, like his father, he’d sit in front of the shrine with Touya’s remains. He still liked to talk to him like he always did, even if it was just to a photo. That was the only picture of Touya his father didn’t pack into a box, so he always made sure to sit down with him whenever he came home.

When he really thought about it, Natsuo spent more time talking to a portrait than he did talking to his little brother who was still here. Sad as it was, he just couldn’t find it in him to get over Touya. It’s why he was so shocked when he watched the video live streamed by the villains.

“Sir! Excuse me, you’re blocking the hallway.” A nurse said, placing a hand on his shoulder before pushing past him with yet another gurney in tow.

“...Right, my bad.” he said, though the nurse was already leagues away.

He kept his head down as he walked down the hall. He wasn’t sure at first, but he decided to check up on Shouto before meeting his mom and Fuyumi again. It’s why he picked up some cold soba from the cafeteria before he came up here. It wasn’t anything fancy, but he didn’t want Shouto to starve so it would have to do. His room wasn’t much farther and before he knew it he was standing right outside the door. He could hear voiced coming from inside. They were probably some of Shouto’s classmates.

“Ugh, maybe this was a bad idea,” he murmured, second-guessing even being here. He didn’t want to intrude on his brother and classmates. He could tell they were all worried about him.

Shouto and those two other kids took the brunt of the Liberation Front’s attacks. But before he could even think about turning around and walking away, the door slid open and he was met with a few kids. The one right in front of him was a boy with yellow hair and a black zig-zag down the side.

“You are…” the teen trailed off, waiting for Natsuo to introduce himself.

“Natsuo. Shouto’s brother,” Natsuo answered. He awkwardly presented the food. “I brought him something to eat. Is he up?” he asked.

“Oh, yeah. He’s awake now, we were just visiting.” the blond said. He turned around to look back into the room. “Yo, Todoroki! You’re brother’s here, so we’re gonna bounce!” he said, trying not to shout too loudly. Natsuo peered into the room and met eyes with Shouto for a second before looking back at the group of students leaving the room so they could have some privacy. “Nice to meet you bro,”

“Uh… yeah, you too.” he said, waiting until the group was gone before slipping into Shouto’s room, shutting the door behind him. It wasn’t that he’d never talked to his brother before, but it was still a little weird given the fact they never saw each other growing up. They barely saw each other even now, and Natsuo didn’t know the first thing about Shouto.

“Natsu?” Shouto’s voice was still hoarse from all the burns Touya gave him. “I…” he let out a scratchy cough and brought a hand to his throat. “I thought you were with mom.” he said.

Natsuo just shrugged as he walked more into the room. “I was… then I went to look for some food,” he said through a dry laugh. It wasn’t funny, he was just trying to break the ice. “I got you some soba while I was downstairs though. It’s cold,” He held out the packaged soba for his brother to take. Shouto cleared his throat, but Natsuo noticed that it looked painful. “You don’t need to talk if your throat’s feeling bad. I just wanted to check on you.”

Shouto nodded, taking the food. His hands didn’t hurt nearly as much as they did earlier, but the bandages limited their flexibility and movement. “Oh. Thanks,” he whispered. There was an awkward tension in the air as Shouto struggled to fully take the lid off the soba, but once he got it off Natsuo had offered to help with the chopsticks. “Can I… ask you about Touya? Is that okay?”

It caught Natsuo off-guard. He didn’t think Shouto was going to speak to him, much less ask about Touya— now known as Dabi. Nonetheless, he nodded. He could understand Shouto wanting to know more about their older brother, and it made sense that he would ask him. After all, him and Touya were attached at the hip when they were kids.

“Sure.” he answered, sitting down in the chair beside the bed. “What do you want to know?”

Natsuo shook the thoughts of Dabi from his mind, wanting to keep Touya separate from the maniac villain. He didn’t want to imagine that the brother closest to him had tried to kill him. The thought –though he didn’t show it– hurt him too much to think about. It caused an indescribable pain to swell in his chest. One he thought he’d forgotten long ago. 

Shouto shrugged as he slurped his noodles.

“Anything. What kind of stuff did he like?” he asked. Honestly, that was all he wanted to know. He wanted to get to know Touya vicariously through what his family remembered about him.

“Well…” Natsuo trailed off. “Touya and I used to collect Pokemon cards. We had pretty big collections, but he always got the good cards. He liked to draw, too, which was honestly surprising. They weren’t any good though.” he said, a small smile creeping onto his face. He looked down at his hands and sighed.

It didn’t hurt to think about Touya as much as he thought it would. Talking about him actually felt good in a way. Like a weight was being lifted off his chest or something.

“And there was that one time Touya tried to make breakfast for mom and dad, but he burnt everything. You should’ve seen the looks on their faces when they bit into it. They ate all of it, though. They didn’t want to hurt his feelings.”

“What was his favorite food?” Shouto asked. Natsuo looked up again. “Touya’s favorite, I mean. Do you know what he liked?” he asked. “I’ve been—” Shouto coughed, “Nevermind.”

Natsuo wasn’t sure what to say. Even he didn’t know Touya’s favorite foods growing up. He knew that Touya liked to snack, though, not so much on sweets. He preferred savory snacks like chips as opposed to candies. As much as he wanted to answer Shouto’s question, he couldn’t. “I wish I could tell you,” he says through an exasperated sigh. “I’m sure Fuyumi knows. She did most of the cooking after the housemaid quit.”

The look on Shouto’s face could only be described as disappointed. Natsuo couldn’t help but feel bad, especially since Shouto was the only one who didn’t have any kind of bond with Touya other than blood. He didn’t get to experience a childhood with Touya like him and Fuyumi did. Much like he didn’t get to experience a childhood with Shouto. 

Maybe if he had, things wouldn’t be so awkward between them. Maybe he wouldn’t have to wait fifteen years to find out what his little brother’s favorite meal was.

“You know… uh, well— I’m surprised I even remember this,” Natsuo muttered. Shouto looked up from his noodles to see his brother running a hand through his hair.

“What is it?” Shouto asked.

Dragging his hand to the back of his neck, Natsuo opened his mouth to speak but quickly shut it again. He wasn’t sure if he should speak what was on his mind right now. If not for himself, than for Shouto. He wasn’t sure how Shouto might react to hearing it, since he didn’t know his current feelings about Touya at the moment. Hell, Natsuo didn’t even know how to react to it when he first heard it. The words Touya gave him one night when he was barely awake.

“Touya. H–He told me something when we were kids. It was about how he tried to attack you when you were a baby.” Natsuo spoke. “He said that… uh— shit, I don’t remember, I was half-asleep,” he sighed. He brought his eyes to the floor again, already sick of the speckled pattern he’s been walking on all afternoon. “Oh, right. He knew he shouldn’t have been mad at you. He said that he knew it wasn’t your fault. I just— I thought you should know that, I guess.”

For a moment, it was silent. Concerned, Natsuo met Shouto’s gaze only be met with widened eyes and an unsure look contorting his face. He seemed frozen as he processed what he had just heard. For a minute, Natsuo wasn’t sure if he believed him. Or if he even heard him, for that matter, he sat awkwardly in his seat as Shouto continued staring blankly into his soul.

“He said that?” There was a slight waver in Shouto’s voice, but Natsuo didn’t mention it and just nodded. His two-toned brother paused again, running his word over and over through his mind. “Dab– Touya said that…” he finally said, but it didn’t sound like he was asking this time.

“I can’t know for sure what he thinks about you now. But I hope you know that he didn’t always hate you. He’s only trying to kill you to make Endeavor suffer.” Natsuo said. Upon seeing Shouto deadpan, he brought his hands up in surrender. “Uh– not that that’s an excuse or anything! I’m— I–I’m just saying that deep down, maybe he doesn’t hate you as much as you might think! And trust me, for someone who turned out to be a mass murderer… Touya’s a real big crybaby. Don’t let the patchy face scare you off,”

Shouto couldn’t help the small upturn of his mouth as he listened to his brother yammer on. He knew that Touya was still his brother. They were bound by blood, after all. And he knew that fate would bring them back together again, whether they liked it or not.

“Natsuo… thanks. I’m happy you stopped down here. This is nice.”

“Uh– yeah, no problem. You’re welcome, Shouto. If you want… I could tell you more about Touya. He was a real trouble maker in school, I heard. Fuyumi knows all the details, but I heard once he set a toilet on fire,”

Shouto’s eyes blew wide and he suppressed a snicker.

“He did? What did mom and dad think?”

wc: 2k

[kingtomura]

Deja Vu | 1 | January Embers

summary: Your best friend died years ago. He went up in flames until there was nothing left... so why does it feel like you can still see him sometimes? content: touya todoroki x female reader, childhood friends au, reader has a quirk, flashbacks, childhood memories, fluff, heavy angst, bullying, eventual smut, eventual meaning next chapter, soft touya, hurt/comfort, tragedy, mdni wc: 4.5k | Chapter 2 | m. list | read on ao3

You meet Touya Todoroki when you are four years old.

He was a redhot firecracker that demanded the attention of you and all those around him. 

Touya Todoroki was also the first in your class to have his quirk maifest. It was the talk for about a week, everyone expecting nothing less from the son of the flame hero, Endeavor, himself. 

You would watch him some days, flaunting his newfound power on the playground in front of others, knowing he would be some great hero one day. Even better than All Might, he would yell to anyone that would listen. It was a decent dream, you believed. Maybe someone could actually be better than All Might. 

It didn’t seem like that would be in the cards for you, as it became more apparent as the days went by that you may not have a quirk. The excitement of watching every other child’s quirk manifest began to fill you with a pit of dread.

Quirkless. 

It’s something you never thought you would have to think about. The realization hadn’t caught up with the rest of your class yet and you could only thank the stars.

But it was only a matter of time before a group of three noticed. 

They cornered you while you tried drawing shapes in the sanded area of the playground. 

“Hey,” one kid dragged, horns proudly peeking out of his head. “What’s goin’ on with you?” 

You spared him a glance before going back to your sand, gliding the stick you found through the yellow grains. “What do you mean?”

One girl behind him pipes up, curly pigtails bouncing with the tilt of her head,  “Where’s your quirk? Aren’t you turning five soon?”

The emphasis on five makes you jolt a little and you try to play it off — offering a little shrug to the trio. “I dunno. Mom says I'm a late bloomer.” you pray they will be satisfied with your answer and leave you alone. 

The third kid finally speaks, sporting a new pair of bat-like wings. “No way, I bet you’re gonna be quirkless!”

The other children erupt in a loud laugh that calls the attention of your other classmates — much to your dismay. 

“That’s so sad for you!” the girl yelled, grin on her face showing not an ounce of pity. 

“Yeah, really!” The first boy laughs, taking a step forward and kicking the sand you were drawing in towards you, effectively ruining your picture and your day. 

You go to stand, brushing the sand off of your dress before the girl rushes forward to push you, sending you down to land flat on your bottom. Your bottom lip wobbled as you tried to hold back the tears and humiliation threatening to spill over and out. 

The bat-winged boy pointed to you, “Look, guys, she’s gonna cry!” Yelling out to anyone who could hear, only causing you to dip your head in shame, now unable to stop the warm tears from trailing down your cheeks. 

And you thought today couldn’t get any worse.

“Hey! Knock it off!” You hear a voice yell, familiar. “Flashfire fist!”

You feel the heat before you see it, hot and swift.

The screams make you look up. Its Touya, red hair and fist aflame, standing in front of you and effectively blocking you from the trio of bullies before. 

“Ouch, Touya! You could have really hurt us!” the girl with pigtails cried, holding her own wrist as tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

The boy who kicked sand at you spoke up next, voice wavering on the verge of tears as well, “Yeah, you jerk!”

Touya shrugged, flames dissipating and points a finger at them, “I don't care. Bullies’ feelings dont matter!” 

You could only stare with wet lashes as the trio ran off — no doubt to tell the teacher. Touya didn’t seem to mind, as a matter of fact he seemed proud as he turned to you and reached out a hand to help you up. He was all smiles and warm eyes, “Are you alright?”

You take his hand, noting how warm it still was from his previous quirk use and nod, “Mhm, thank you.”

“It’s no problem,” he helped you to your feet before continuing, his smile almost blinding, “I’m Touya Todoroki, the next number one hero.” 

You nod and introduce yourself, cheeks warm and smile dancing across your face. His mood is infectious. “Nice to meet you, Touya, next number one hero.” 

Later that day you realize Touya does get in trouble for improper quirk use and can’t help but apologize. 

“It’s fine!” He returns, not bothered in the slightest. “I’d do it again and again, if I had to.”

After the incident Touya insisted on being by your side the rest of the day. During lunch, arts and crafts and even nap time. He would go where you would go and you couldn’t say you minded. Once school had finished for the day and it was time to break apart Touya insisted you both hang out more.

Even going as far as to introduce himself to your parents as they came to pick you up. 

His foot tapped in excitement as he told them about your days and how you should hang out more. 

That’s how you both find yourselves in some forest on the weekend, walking together through the fresh snow, because Touya just had to show you this cool training spot. 

“But, don't you think we’re going too far, Touya?” You ask, nerves trembling as you look around the forest. You wouldn’t know your way back without him and you’ve never been this far out alone. 

“No,” he singsongs, “C’mon– don't be such a baby,” 

You puff your cheeks, running to catch up with him,  “Don’t call me that, but okay!” 

He grabs your hand once you are by his side and it's warm. Touya is always warm. 

“We’re almost there, anyway!” 

This special place looked the same as any other place in these woods, but you wouldn’t let Touya know. He’s so excited to show you what he came to do. 

“My dad and I train here sometimes.” He starts, smiling as he backs away from you to show you a flame in his hand. “He thinks my flames will be hotter than his one day.”

You can’t hide the way your eyes fill with sadness as you look to the ground. 

“I don’t think I’m gonna get a quirk, Touya.” 

The boy’s smile drops instantly, as he rushes over to you, taking your face in his tiny hands. Still so warm, like always. 

“Hey, don’t say that! Maybe you aren't trying the right things.” He dips behind you before you could turn to stop him, “Maybe you can see in the dark!” His hypothesis being tested by covering your eyes. 

You bite back a laugh, “No, Touya, I don't think it works like that.” 

The boy lets you go and runs to a rather large, fallen log – climbing atop it and looking down to you. “Well, maybe you can fly. Have you tried that?” 

You shake your head, unable to hide the worry in your face. Touya was up pretty high. “Hey… you shouldn’t be up that far.” 

“What do you mean? It’s fine!” he reassures, continuing his musing while walking along the fallen log. “Besides, it’s not like I'm clumsy or anything—!” 

The boy’s words were cut short by his shoe stepping down and slipping on the ice below it, sending him crashing down to the patch of snow and debris below. 

In that moment, your hand shoots out before you can think and there’s ringing in your ears. Your eyes squeezed shut as you wait for the impending crash. But it doesn’t come. 

You slowly open your eyes and see… Touya. He’s okay. Better than okay because he’s floating above the snowy patch of grass below, debris and everything brushed away. Your hand is still out as you meet Touya's wide eyes. 

“Whoa!” You finally pull your hand back and watch his feet gently touch the grass below. “Dude, you have mind powers! So cool!” 

You will your breathing to go back to normal as you take in the new information. You do have a quirk. All hope was not lost. 

The feeling of warm liquid creeping down your nostril catches your attention. Bringing a finger to your nose, you pull back and see the crimson drop. Blood. The sound of Touya’s steps through the snow breaks your focus. 

“Hey, what happened? You're bleeding.” He takes your finger in his hand, red brows furrowed and cerulean eyes filled with worry. 

You shrug, taking your hand back and wiping your nose with your sleeve, unaware of the tiny smear of blood you left across your face. “I dunno. I’m not hurt, though.”

At this, Touya smiles, bringing his own hand to your face to wipe the remainder of what you smeared. “You better not be! We’re gonna be heroes together — you and me!”

It’s so infectious, the way he lights up with a smile, you can’t help but return it. “Yeah, we sure will.”

—----------------

The first time you think you see Touya it’s while you are on your way home from the bustling area of downtown. 

The shops are crowded with people trying to get their last minute gifts for the holidays and you promised your parents you would be home hours ago. It’s a flash – so quick you almost miss it. 

Almost. 

Through the crowd there's a glint of white hair and blue eyes. You stop, sending the people behind you nearly barrolling into your backside and profusely apologize, half heartedly hearing their grumbles as you make your way through the flurry of people. 

The snow white hair is a little further ahead, but you can see bits and pieces where the sea of heads will naturally move. 

Was that…

It couldn’t be. Your heart picks up as you nearly chase your way through, mumbling faint excuse me’s and pardon me’s to those around you as you lock onto the moving person. It's becoming harder to keep up and you break out in a light sprint. 

The person takes a sharp left into an alley and you follow behind, only to be met with the emptiness of a damp back alley. 

There was no way it could be him. Your mind was playing tricks on you. 

You shake your head, hoping you could physically shake those thoughts from your brain and turn to head home. It had been a long day.

There is a battle raging in your mind — one that you are not sure is formed from grief or from anxiety. it is an all consuming inferno of blackened dust in your heart and you cannot stop yourself when you bring it up to Fuyumi.

You both have been sitting in silence for a while, wrapping gifts for the upcoming holidays. She has been in her own little world, humming christmas tunes, while you have been in a fit of inner turmoil. 

“Hey, Fuyumi,” you start, instantly catching her attention in the otherwise quiet home. 

“Hm?”

Your nerves are eating your confidence and you start to second guess yourself. Only the warmth in her gray eyes gives you the resolve to continue. “Something weird happened at the market the other day.”

She tilts her head, flowing ponytail following the direction, “What’s that?”

“I was walking and,” you stall — unsure if bringing up your friend's dead brother before the holidays would be a good move. “I swear, I thought I saw Touya. It was a flash, but the guy had his white hair and,” unwanted tears are blurring your vision, “and his eyes were so much like Touya’s i don't—” you're choking up, tears fighting their way through your throat, “I thought i was going crazy.”

Surprisingly, Fuyumi takes it well, reaching a hand out to touch your shoulder, a comforting motion you’ve grown to know over the years. 

“Hey, it’s okay. That could have been anyone, you know?” She smiles, and it’s bittersweet like the flowers at a funeral, “it’s the holiday season so everyone is out right now.”

You nod, reluctant, but logical. “Yeah, yeah you’re right. It was pretty crowded in that area.” the tears would force their way through your resistance whether you fought them or not, so you give up – letting them flow down your cheeks. “I’m sorry for bringing it up, Fuyumi.”

“No, it's okay! Don't worry about it." She looks to the side. “It’s only been three years since it happened, and the anniversary of his death is coming up too. It's harder around this time of year. For all of us.” 

You can only nod as Fuyumi brings you into a tight hug. Your resolve melted away in her arms as you cried, it felt like things would never get easier. 

A life without Touya wasn’t a life you could see yourself living happily in.

You wished and prayed for him everyday — unwilling to believe your best friend was really truly gone. It felt so surreal. Like something that happens in movies and not to you.

Fuyumi said nothing as she held you and rubbed soothing circles on your back. She has been a pillar for you in these times and you couldn’t be more grateful. Only wishing you could show your gratuity in a more effective form than just sobbing into her shoulder. 

There is an anguish in your heart that will not go away. A part of you died when Touya did, there was no denying that. 

Fuyumi pulls away, holding you by the shoulders as her eyes meet yours — she's started crying too and it's enough to make you shake with sobs again. 

“Hey, hey,” Fuyumi starts, her voice unwavering despite the tears. You wish you were strong like her. “We’ll get through this, okay? We just have to be strong.”

You give her a pathetic nod, one more for her sake than yours, and try to sit up straighter. 

You knew that Touya wouldn’t want to see you like this.

—-------------------

When you are five years old, you notice there is a change in Touya.

You gasp when you see him again, “Touya! Your hair!” 

His eyebrows scrunch at your pointing and then widen in realization. “Huh? Oh, don’t worry about that.” Touya huffs, “were you even listening?”

The question startles you and you quickly nod your head, knowing you didn't hear a word he said. “Mhm!”

Touya keeps talking, now bringing a hand to his hair, rubbing a lock between his forefinger and thumb, “Okay, so what’s the deal?” 

You can't stop the confused look in your eye as you watch him, cheeks rosy from the cold. It snowed again yesterday, and Touya never seemed bothered by the cold. You were freezing though. 

Somehow you let him bring you back to this forest — it’s become your go to hangout. A place where the both of you could practice your quirks in peace. 

“Do you like All Might or something?” 

You shrug, indifferent to the well known hero. Your parents weren’t heroes and neither was anyone in your family. He seemed more like a comic book character than an actual person. 

“Well, it doesn't matter. My dad told me I’m gonna be even better than All Might! So he better watch out.”

You smile, seeing his eyes light up, “Oh, yeah? How are you gonna be better than him, Touya?” 

You don’t know why but it makes your heart dance when he gets this way. Stars in his eyes and world in his hand. He’s your hero, you absently wonder if he knows that. 

Touya shrugs, scrunching his nose in thought, “I dunno. I haven’t gotten that far yet.” He snaps his fingers and turns to you, “I know! I’ll look it up. It can’t be too hard, right?”

You laugh now. Of course he doesn’t have a plan.

“Don't you think if it were that easy he wouldn't be the number one right now?” You test, and Touya gives you a look, pout strong on his face.

“Hey, whose side are you on, anyway?”

“Yours! So, I don't want you to waste your time on silly stuff.” You offer, looking at the leaves you're making dance in your hand. 

He groans, the frustration evident in his voice, “Whatever! I’ll figure something else out.”

In that moment, there’s a great gust of wind — whistling and blowing the leaves in your hand away. It’s chill makes you wrap your arms around yourself, shivering. 

“Touya, don’t you get cold?” You ask, arms doing little to warm yourself as you continue to shiver. 

The boy looks at you, brows furrowed and eyes confused. “No, do you?”

“Yes!” You shout, “all the time! It’s so c-cold out here. I don’t know how you do it.” 

He walks over to you, pondering and examining your face. “Yeah, your nose is all red. Rudolf.” 

He takes your face into his hands and closes his eyes, rubbing his nose against yours back and forth. It’s warm and it makes you flush. Your cheeks burn when he pulls away, stunned at the smile on his face and stars in his eyes.

“Better?” He asks, innocent question ringing in your ears and you realize yes, you do feel better, but you also feel warm and fuzzy like there are butterflies dancing around in your belly and you can’t get them out — so, you just nod instead, slow smile creeping on your face and Touya grabs your hand again.

“Good! Now let’s keep going! There’s this cool new move I wanna try.” 

And you follow behind him. He was your best friend after all. You feel as though you would even follow him through the icy storms of Antarctica if you needed to. 

—-------------------

Christmas with the Todoroki’s has always been interesting. For one, half of them were not present during the dinner. Rei being sent to the facility, endeavor choosing to work on his hero duties and little Shouto desperately trying to eat with all of you without Enji coming home to find him out of his room. 

The silence is eerie – other than the sounds of metal clinking against porcelain plates. 

You couldn’t help but break the tense air, words sounding loud in the quiet of the room, “Thank you all for inviting me over. The food is really good, Natsuo.”

At this, Natsuo perks up, a smile so wide on his face it makes his eyes squeeze shut. “We love having you around! You’re like the big sis we never had!”

“Hey!” Fuyumi squawks, ready to scold her little brother, “I’m the one who knows where you sleep Natsu, so watch it!”

You can’t help but laugh at the threat, knowing Natsuo has been a victim to many of Fuyumi’s pranks. Shouto only watches on, eating as much as he could before he would inevitably go back to his side of the home. There wasn’t much expression to his face, but he seemed content to watch his older siblings bicker back and forth. 

Times like these were nice, you decide. It pulls your mind away from the reality and into the more lively parts of growing up.

After the dinner was done, and the gifts were passed out, there was a somber air growing about you all once more. 

Shouto went back to his room and Natsuo found his place in the living room, playing video games and insisting that since he cooked most of the meal, he shouldn’t wash dishes as well. 

Much to Fuyumi’s dismay, you agreed with Natuso, but offered to help her with the dishes. It was something to prolong the inevitable walk home. 

“What did you get for him this year?” Fuyumi asked, passing you another plate to dry.

You glanced at her, noting how she avoided your gaze, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth instead. “It’s something I’ve been working on for a while. A necklace — with charms and things I think he would like.”

She nods, bringing an arm up to wipe her eyes with her wrist, “Yeah, I’m sure he would love that. He always liked your gifts.”

It’s impossible not to find yourself tearing up. 

Once you were done washing dishes with Fuyumi, she went to join Natsuo in the living room, offering unwanted tips on the current game he was playing and receiving groans of irritation in return. 

You take that as your cue to leave and make your way to the place you’ve dreaded all night.

Touya’s shrine.

His memoriam stared back at you as you dropped to your knees, lowering your head in prayer and then placing the small decorated box onto the shelf of his shrine. 

“Oh, Touya… it’s been three years.” You say to his photo hanging above the shrine. It’s his school photo. You were both in the same class, already talking about what high schools you would be choosing in the upcoming years.  

It doesn’t feel like three years. It feels like everyday is the same — you wake up and he’s not there. Like a day you’re doomed to repeat until the reality of it all finally sets in. 

What would he look like now, you wonder. Would he have gotten taller? He had always been smaller than the other kids. Would he still have dreams of being a hero? You didn’t know. You wished you knew. 

Your fists clinch in your lap and the tears flow freely from your eyes. Even with your head bowed you can’t stop seeing his picture etched into your brain. Those blue eyes staring into your eyes. 

A sob escapes your lips and it all comes crashing down after that. 

“God, Touya..!” Your words break down, sending your resolve with it. It feels like your heart has been ripped out of your chest and you’ve been openly bleeding out for three years. 

You are only sixteen years old and expected to spend the rest of your life without the boy who would put the moon in the sky for you. 

Unthinkable.

You’re not sure how much time has passed once you’ve calmed down, but you know it’s late now. 

It was time to head home, and you wished Fuyumi and Natsuo well as you hugged them. They wave you off, faces somber and words tight. If they heard you crying, they didn't mention it and you’re thankful. 

The trek home would not be not a long one, but you couldn’t stop yourself from taking a detour. 

The forest where you and Touya always hung out was nearby and you can't stop your feet when you make a sharp right turn and head that way. 

It was getting dark and snow was beginning to fall, but you felt at home.

There's a river you like to walk along. It's such a small little stream that never seems to freeze over, no matter how cold it is outside. It is where you find yourself trailing beside. The water being the only noise breaking through the quiet of the forest.

It kept you company until you reached the familiar open patch of grass, which was currently covered in snow. 

Some trees were still charred from the incident, but others were still standing proud. It’s strange how that works — some things can remain the same through adversity while others are damaged beyond repair. You wonder if things could ever grow back from such tragedies.

Maybe the growth of something new could come from the ashes of the old. Like a phoenix.

The snapping of a twig snatches you from your thoughts. 

It's a forest, yes, but this area doesn’t have much food for the animals. You stand to your feet, absently wondering when you had taken a seat in the first place, and look around. Maybe it was a trick of the wind, or something falling. 

The snow crunches under your feet as you begin to take your leave — you’ve been out long enough. 

You make your way through the thick of the trees until something brings you to pause. 

Your steps were not the only steps you were hearing. 

“Hello?” You call out into what you hoped had been an empty forest, only to be met with silence. It is not a comforting quiet, it was a quiet that crept underneath your skin and gave you goosebumps. 

It felt like you were being watched. 

“This isn’t funny!” You yell, taking cautious steps backwards, preparing yourself for a sprint in the opposite direction. 

You turn, ready to take off when a glimmer of silver catches your eye, the flicker making you halt your movements.

Your heart hammered against your chest.

There was no way. 

It was so faint, but you knew the necklace you crafted like the back of your hand.

“Hey! Stop fucking around, whoever you are!” You don’t know where this brave face is coming from, but you aren’t backing down. You could fight if need be.

Against your better judgment, you take a few steps forward, and like you thought, whoever was around took those steps with you. Your breath hitches when you see it. 

A flash of white hair. 

You break off into a sprint, and the person is already off, having a headstart and leaving you behind. 

You couldn’t see as well through the snowfall, but you didn’t need to. White hair and the shimmer of a necklace around the person’s neck has you chasing them deeper into the woods. 

“Stop..!” You cry out, reaching a hand forward in an attempt to activate your quirk. 

The force of it causes branches to fall from a tree further ahead of the person and he only changes direction. 

You follow behind, lungs burning as you struggle to keep up. There was another attempt, bringing an already leaning tree down in front of the running man. It still did not work, he simply jumped over it and continued on. 

You were approaching your limit with your quirk and desperate. If you let this slip through your fingers it would drive you mad. 

“Wait!” You try again, reaching both hands forward and focusing all you had on the man before you. It was hard to ignore the blood trickling from both nostrils with your quirk use, but you had to, this was your only chance. “Touya..!”

And in that moment, the man stopped — whether it be from your quirk holding him in place or his own will, you weren't sure. All you knew was that the man stopped, and turned.

Your vision began to blur as your head pounded from the overexertion — your quirk was difficult to use on a living being, but it didn’t matter. You would know those eyes even in your darkest hour.

The cerulean blue was the last thing you saw before your world went dark. 

And in your final moments, only one thought rang in your mind.

Touya is alive.

[sarahjtv]

My Hero Academia Chapter 426 Spoiler Talk: The Hellish Todoroki Family Conclusion

Whew, what a chapter goddamn. The Todoroki Family, especially Shoto (my favorite character 🩵), is one of my favorite and one of the best arcs in My Hero Academia. We all knew that their conclusion was coming this chapter and now that we're here, let's talk about it:

First off, in case you didn't hear, Weekly Shonen Jump and MHA mangaka, Kohei Horikoshi himself, confirmed that this is the first of the last 5 chapters of My Hero Academia. The series will end in early August with 430 chapters total if all goes well. I made a post about this when it was announced 2 days ago, but I want to briefly say that I am going to miss this series so much. It has had such an amazing impact on my life and surely saved me during many rough times. I will be so sad to see it end, but happy to see Horikoshi finish his beloved story on his own terms after 10 long years of publication. I will make sure to see it through myself.

We start off the chapter with a Todoroki Family reunion. We see the whole family about a month after the war ended. Everyone has burn scars of some kind now with Rei's having the largest that even covers the left side of her face like Shoto's and Endeavor's do ironically enough (I see what you did, Horikoshi). We don't see if Endeavor got any burn scars on his face because it's covered with bandages, but given he has the highest fire resistance next to Shoto, I doubt it.

Also, pretty much everyone got a haircut from their bodies getting torched trying to stop Touya (I'm going to call him that from here on). Fuyumi and Endeavor got a few inches off, Natsuo cut quite a bit off to the point where he's looking like his father again (oh, the irony), and Rei got a significant portion cut off to the point where it's back to the length it was when she and Enji first met. I think Shoto got a slight trim, but it's hard to tell. His hair is definitely scruffier than it was before, though. Honestly looks-wise, they all still look really good. Those Todoroki/Himura genes are doing good work.

But, despite those good looks, everyone is here to see Touya in his own operating tube (?). The doctor says that Touya's slowly dying and Endeavor tells everyone that he's retiring. Both things are what everyone saw coming. There was no way Endeavor was going back to hero work after everything that happened to him during the final war. It was just never possible. Even with prosthetics, I think his own mental state and where he is in life with his family would have prevented that from happening. I'm surprised that Touya is alive at all, but I'm glad to see that he's alive to see his family for a little longer before he eventually dies which I assume may happen in the final chapter of the series.

Also, Touya can still talk! Bro still can't move for shit, but he's conscious enough to talk to his family. He still hates his father and I get it. I don't think there was any way Touya was going to forgive his father after everything that happened. It's good to see that Endeavor still is trying to atone and wants to talk with Touya as much as he possibly can to his eldest son, but that won't change anything right now. The least Endeavor can do is listen to what Touya might want to say.

Fuyumi and Rei try to talk to Touya too, but the doctor is telling them that talking more would be a burden on Touya's heart. And then Shoto asks his oldest brother "What's your favorite food?" and Touya responds "Soba..." just like Shoto. I can't do this tonight, guys! I'm screaming, crying, throwing up! WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN! THEY COULD HAVE EATEN SOBA TOGETHER IN ANOTHER LIFE!!! HOW DARE YOU, HORIKOSHI! I'M IN YOUR WALLS 😭

And right as his family leaves his room, Touya slowly cries tears and says "Shoto... I'm sorry..." I don't need to explain this one. This fucking hurts. Touya has regrets, but it's too late. Touya may be Dabi the murderous villain who ruined a lot of lives, but he's also still a young man who deserved a better life than what was handed to him and does still care for his family even if only a little. All around a tragic character. If this is the last we see of Touya, I think it's a good albeit sad send-off.

As the Todorokis start to part ways, we get an idea of where their lives are going now:

1. Natsuo wants to start a family with his girlfriend (isn’t he only 20 btw and he started dating her like, what, a year ago? I get it, Natsuo, but this is too early don’t you think? 😭) but has no intention of having a ceremony for it specifically because he doesn't want her or himself to ever see Enji again. I don't blame him for this. Even though he helped stop Touya from literally exploding which did save his father, Natsuo made it clear from the start that he was never going to forgive Enji no matter how much he atoned. The reason why he was even born was because Enji wanted a perfect Ice/Fire child, but he didn't get that until Shoto was born afterwards. Natsuo saw Enji hurt and abuse his family for pretty much his entire life and Enji suddenly wanting to fix what he broke wasn't going to change Natsuo's mind on what he thought of his father. Cutting ties with his father is for the best. It's a miracle the rest of his family still want to see Enji at all, especially Shoto.

2. Fuyumi has also quit her teaching job, but a mother of one of her students found another one. This is also understandable. The public slander of her family on her is what probably pushed this and I'm sure her good reputation got inadvertently damaged from it. I hope she is treated better at her new job.

3. Enji is going got continue to pay for his crimes for the rest of his life whatever that takes. He even understands if the rest of his kids never want to see him again either. He will still do everything he can to make sure his kids are unharmed by the whole Dabi thing. He even accepts that he's going to dance with Touya in Hell one day. Honestly, regardless of what you think of Endeavor, I honestly think his atonement/development arc is one of the best in the series. He has definitely become a better man than what he started out as when we first met him during the Sports Festival Arc, but what I love about this is that Horikoshi never let him off the hook. He made Enji face his sins head-on and suffer through every consequence that came from his abusive actions. If Enji Todoroki is going to atone, he's going to atone the very, very hard way. Enji may be a better man and father, but that doesn't mean he's going to see the pearly gates when all is said and done. The best he can do is pay for his sins for the rest of his life and pray that Rei, Fuyumi, and Shoto don't leave him completely too.

4. And finally, there's my favorite, Shoto 🩵! He's going back to school and reassures his parents that he will be fine with his friends as they help him become who he wants to be. This essentially concludes Shoto's arc as well. When we first met him, he was a cold, anti-social teen who didn't want to make any friends. All he wanted to do was to become a hero with his ice alone to spite his father. Since then, he's opened up to his classmates, made amazing friends especially in Izuku, Iida, and Bakugo, rekindled his relationship with his mother and siblings, come to terms with his father and Touya, and finally accepted his Ice/Fire powers as his own. He says he's on the path to becoming the hero he wants to be, but I'd argue that he's already there. Again, it's an incredible development for Shoto and I think this is a great conclusion to his own character arc.

After Shoto leaves, we transition to Hawks! He's still there for Endeavor if he needs him which is nice. He's also the president of the Public Safety Commission! Dude may be Quirkless, but that doesn't mean he can't do anything! I'm happy to see him thrive in this new role of his and I hope he can reform the PSC into something good as opposed to how they treated him in the past.

We also catch up on Lady Nagant WHO IS NOT DEAD 🎊, but chooses to stay in prison for a bit longer. And Gentle and LaBrava are ok and free too! Good endings here!

The final panel shows Spinner and someone is opening his hospital door 🤔

Phenomenal chapter! 10/10 would read and cry over again. Thank you and fuck you for everything, Kohei Horikoshi. 4 Chapters left. Fuck, my hands hurt 😭

[snnrinc]

Codename: ROOK

Now completed on AO3!

Ch. 1 /11- Outside Contractual Obligations [AO3 Portal]

— PAIRING : Dabi/Touya Todoroki x F!Reader x Hawks/Keigo Takami

— WARNINGS : NSFW (Not in this chapter), Noir AU, No Quirk AU, Porn With Plot, Sexual Tension, Threesome - F/M/M, Drugs Blood and Violence, Crime Scenes, Organized Crime, Murder, Eventual Smut, Cunnilingus, Double Penetration, Masturbation, Analingus, Mildly Dub-Con, Not Canon Compliant, AFAB reader, She/her pronouns for reader

— SUMMARY : Being a police officer in a city where crime runs high and respect is non existent has got to be one of the shittiest jobs you've ever had. But it pays the bills. However, once you and detective Keigo Takami are assigned a case that deals with the murder of a prolific law enforcer and the subsequent chain of disappearances happening all over Musutafu, you realise that having your bills up to date is most definitely not worth all the danger you're up against. Especially when that danger is named Dabi, one of the most sought after criminals that you've been trying to catch red handed for years. Nonetheless, this is your only opportunity to make your job finally mean something, so you and Keigo decide to go undercover right in the jaws of peril, its razor sharp teeth waiting to bite into your neck like a guillotine. But you won't back out now, will you, officer? Good luck on the job, codename Rook.

— NOTES : This was supposed to be a smutty one shot I have no idea what the fuck happened. It's been gathering dust in my Docs for over a year and yet this is the only chapter I have 💀 I left notes for myself saying "don't go overboard with the plot because the point is for them to FUCK" and now here we are. It definitely worked. For sure... Still hope you enjoy!

“A big-name agent of ours went missing a few months ago. No trace of his whereabouts until a couple weeks ago, when his body was found in the dumpster behind a hole-in-the-wall restaurant. Well, parts of it anyway.”

The man in front of you took a final puff from his dying cigarette and promptly extinguished it in the ashtray in front of him, right next to a bowl of sweets with generic labels. He exhaled the smoke in billows and it vanished in the air, lingering with a pungent smell of tobacco and an awful chocolate flavouring. Your nose scrunched up slightly and you resisted the urge to cough.

“We have no evidence left at the crime scene and the body being chopped up makes it near impossible to determine the murder weapon,” he continued. “We have some of our best agents dealing with the autopsy and the case as a whole, but no clear suspects so far.”

“This seems like highly classified information. So why are you telling me this?”

You closed the file you were handed and placed it back on the desk, eyes shifting to detective Enji Todoroki sitting across from you, watching the way his eyebrows dropped down just a little in an expression that seemed to almost be judging your intelligence.

Really, you felt like you should be the one judging here.

To say you were confused would be an understatement. When you were called into Enji's office, you had assumed you did something wrong on the job, since most people in your workplace seemed to overlook you even when it came to small tasks. Sometimes you felt that if you wouldn't turn up to work one day, no one would notice. Usually, you didn't mind — being invisible meant you could do your work in peace without being bothered by unnecessary small talk or the occasional office drama that you sometimes overheard in the break room. You were just an officer, one of the lowest ranks in the force, so the only time you expected any attention was when something went wrong.

When Enji personally came to look for you before you went on patrol for your shift you felt your stomach drop. Yes, the job sucked a good majority of the time, since you noticed you were often not taken seriously by your colleagues, sometimes probably even considered a liability when dealing with more violent cases. But like any other person roaming the earth, you still had rent to pay and food to buy if you wanted to continue existing, and working for the Public Safety Commission ensured you did just that and still had some money left for your more frivolous wants. Straightening your back, you followed Enji to his office, every bad scenario playing in your mind only getting worse when, as soon as you sat down, he dropped a file containing the case details on the desk in front of you, pushing it forward in a silent prompt for you to read it.

And now here you were, bombarded with information about a murder you were pretty sure you were not qualified to deal with, at least judging by your contractual obligations. You had half a mind to ask if you'd be getting paid more if you worked on the case, but you bit your tongue from the overwhelming feeling of uneasiness creeping up your spine.

“Of course, I don't expect you to understand things so quickly.” You resisted the urge to roll your eyes at his comment. “But surely you've gathered by now that you have been assigned as an assistant to this case.”

“That much is obvious,” you couldn't help but retort. “The question is still why?”

“I was meant to be assigned to this case, but the crime rate has spiked in recent months. I have bigger issues to deal with, so the Commission decided that we need someone that can slip under the radar.”

Ah, so they just needed some cannon fodder. Part of you thought you should've expected as much from the Commission.

“I still think I'm terribly underqualified to be working on this case.”

Enji leaned back into his chair, tapping one of his armrests with his index finger. “So do I, but you'll be working under detective Takami.” He heaved a sigh and allowed a sarcastic undertone to lace his voice, “Who should've been here to give you a quick overview of the case progression so far, but who are we to count on his punctuality?”

Wait a second, working under who?

You blinked and did a double take at him, replaying his words in your mind as if trying to dissect their meaning. This was fantastic in the worst possible way. Not only did you practically have a murder case of a prominent agent dropped into your inexperienced and unsuspecting arms, you were now the right hand of the second best detective of the Commission, Keigo Takami.

If only you had these kinds of odds bestowed upon you if you played the lottery, surely you'd have won enough to ditch this job.

You thought back to what Enji had just revealed to you and couldn't shake the feeling that there was a different reason why they would ask an officer to help with this case, other than just “slipping under the radar”. With one of the best detectives taking over, you figured the Commission wouldn't be stupid enough to allow someone like you to get in the way of the investigation.

As the questions multiplied in your mind, your tongue was tied, unable to figure out a way to put your doubts into words, especially since you knew Enji would do nothing to soothe them.

There was a knock on the door breaking your train of thought, before it opened to reveal detective Takami, an easygoing smile etched on his lips, his gloved hands buried inside the pockets of his shearling jacket, with only one coming up to push his aviator sunglasses that were resting on the bridge of his nose to the top of his head.

“Sorry I missed the introductions,” he said, “but I'm sure we weren't called here just to chat.”

“At last you grace us with your presence, detective. A little while longer and our officer here would've taken over the case in your stead.”

You whipped your head towards Enji, almost ready to ask him if he was serious, before you looked back at Keigo to see him meet your gaze.

“I'm Keigo Takami, it's a pleasure to meet you.” He gave you a charming smile and extended his hand for you to shake. You grasped it firmly and introduced yourself. “So, were you one of the first responders at the scene?”

“Actually,” Enji interjected, “the officer is unfamiliar with the case at the moment, save for the basic details.”

“Oh?” Keigo frowned in confusion.

“As of today, this is your new assistant in this case.”

Keigo blinked a few times, then shook his head and huffed a laugh. “I'm sorry. What? An officer? Not that I mean to doubt your judgement or anything, but isn't this case a little too sensitive for an officer to deal with?” He turned towards you. “No offence.”

“None taken, I'm a little confused myself.”

Enji sighed and massaged his temple with one hand before he leaned forward. “You see, your role in this case will be a little more... 'hands-on' than usual. I mentioned we don't have any concrete suspects, but we do have an idea of the organisation that might be responsible for the murder, which is why we need to employ your help for the investigation.”

“I don't see how this is anything new,” Keigo said. “We've been investigating the League for a while, they operate in this area. Tying them to this murder would be the most obvious first step.”

“The League?” you interfered.

Enji raised an eyebrow at you. “Are you familiar with them?”

“Uh, yeah.” Your eyes shifted between the two men watching you. “They've made a name for themselves amongst the police officers. We've been trying to catch a few of them in the act but they always slip away.”

“Unsurprising for the police force,“ Enji scoffed and you frowned. “Let's hope we won't have the same disappointing results in this case. We have no time to waste on pathetic failures.”

Keigo looked at you from the corner of his eye and noticed the way your shoulders tensed up. He leaned over and dug his hand into the bowl of sweets on the desk, effectively catching both of your attentions. With a fistful of candy, he resumed his questions for Enji who was dishing out your responsibilities.

“So is this about the NOMU Program?”

Enji's eyes narrowed. “How do you know about that program? It's classified information, even for you.”

Keigo shrugged and shoved some more candy into his mouth. “If it is about that, I'd argue that's even more reason why we shouldn't drag an officer into this.”

“Sorry,” you interjected. “What is the NOMU Program?”

“Don't concern yourself with things outside of your duties,” Enji snapped.

“Come now, let's be courteous with our colleague,” Keigo said with a light-hearted tone before turning to you. “It's a codename used by the League. We figured it stands for Network of Metahumanoid Units. A fancy name that's probably got to do with their attempts at reanimating corpses.”

Fuck, so now you were dealing with zombies? Sure, technology as a whole was impressive, but it was nowhere near sophisticated enough to bring someone back from the dead. As far as you knew, every attempt to reverse death was futile. So then why would someone bother?

Enji noticed the confusion in your eyes and spoke before you could ask any questions. "They're planning to use them as weapons. Keigo called them corpses because essentially that's what they are: on the brink of brain death.”

“The only reason why they don't collapse is because the League is pumping them full of a drug called Trigger that boosts their baser powers,” Keigo continued, earning an annoyed glare from Enji at how readily he presented the classified information to you. “We've only had a few attacks reported so far, and we weren't sure what exactly we were dealing with, so we had our top agents deployed to deal with them. Which is why the police weren't mobilised.”

“Sounds like a pretty important omission to me,” you countered with a frown. “So is this what we're dealing with here? Drugged up zombies?”

“We're still unsure,” Keigo answered. “If this victim was supposed to be part of the NOMU Program, then we wouldn't have a body cut up into pieces on our hands. Maybe they're trying to send a message.”

“That's where you two come in," Enji announced. "This time, you will not be dealing with any forensic analysis, suspect interrogation or evidence collection. Instead, you two will act as our eyes and ears and infiltrate the League.”

An insurmountable amount of pressure crashed over you and clenched your muscles in a vice grip, to the point where you almost felt as if it would crack your bones at any moment. You tried to control your expression in an attempt to stop your shock from washing over your face, but surely the vein that started throbbing painfully in your temple was enough proof.

“Hold on.” You raised your hand again to signal for Enji to slow down. “You mean to tell me you called me here to act as your spy?”

Enji scowled. “I don't like it either. They shouldn't send a rookie in for such a big case. I should've been the lead, but it wasn't my decision to make, so I suggest you suck it up and do your job.”

Your voice was exasperated, “There are so many ways that this could go wrong if you send me out there! I'd just hold detective Takami back!”

“I have to agree,” Keigo said. “It's best if I work on my own as usual.”

“Well you see, Takami, things are not so easy in this line of work,” Enji snarled, then produced two folders from his briefcase and stood up, handing them to you and Keigo. “Commission's orders and instructions. Read them thoroughly. Good luck with the mission detective, officer.”

And with that, he stepped out of the room and you felt as if all oxygen made an exit along with him, your heart pounding in your chest so hard you could almost hear it through the grave silence that fell over the room as you read the instructions:

“Officer,

As of today you will refer to yourself as Rook and to your mission partner as Hawks. Forget your real name. Return your weapons, badge, uniform and any other equipment that may be in your possession at the reception of the PCS HQ.

While infiltrated do not contact anyone outside including family members, friends, acquaintances and other PSC employees except for your partner.

You will not have any accolades attached to your name. Your achievements will not be disclosed by the PSC if you succeed. You will receive no posthumous awards if you die. This is your duty to fight for the people. Failure to comply could result in dismissal, sanctions and/or prosecution.

Destroy this document after reading.”

This job was so not worth it.

You watched the grainy screen of the tube TV perched in a corner of the office intently, listening to the news broadcasted somberly by the anchor along with your colleagues. Keigo was by your side, expertly twirling a pen in his fingers, but his focus was zeroed in on the screen, his nose and mouth buried in the raised collar of his jacket.

After the discovery of the body of the Commission's agent, the disappearances around Musutafu increased by a concerning margin. What was worse was that not all of them were agents, some were simply civilians that seemingly had powerful or useful builts and abilities, like the person whose face was now on the screen, their name, last known location and clothes they were last seen wearing listed underneath the picture.

You crossed your arms over your chest and frowned. If this was what you were dealing with, even with your training and experience you were unsure how you'd survive as a double agent. You had no special skill, no upper-hand tactic and you couldn't rely on Keigo—Hawks—for fear that you'd hold him back and compromise the mission.

With how they had you bring back anything that would suggest you'd ever had any contact with the Commission, it really seemed as if they were trying to erase any trace of your existence. This job was all you had, all you ever worked for since you were just a bright-eyed trainee at the police academy, ready to take on any danger coming your way if it meant you could save someone else from it.

How naïve.

Maybe you should've just given up when you were still a child, still able to choose a path that would fit you and your capabilities more. The society in which you lived was unforgiving to weak people, so you had to adapt. But women were not always respected in the police force, and those who were got there because of their network rather than their own abilities more often than not. Not to mention that a police officer's chances of advancing without having someone behind them were close to none.

In other words, there was no way out for you. But at least you weren't exactly the perfect catch for whatever the League was planning, by the looks of things.

From the fog of your worries, you felt Hawks tap your shoulder to catch your attention. His collar was now pushed down neatly and you could see the serious way in which his lips were pursed. He gestured with his head for you to follow him and you complied with a nod.

You reached his office, after stopping by your desk to collect the last bits and pieces you had left laying around, and sat down in front of his desk, one hand worriedly rubbing your chin as you looked out the window. His eyes never left you as he sat down and leaned back in his chair, the pen he was playing with earlier still in his hands. He watched carefully as your brows turned downward in a frown that casted a shadow of concern over your eyes, before he put the pen down on the desk, the sound making you turn to look at him.

“I know you're worried,” he started, “but I want you to know I won't let anything happen to you.”

You let your hands fall into your lap. “Please, don't worry about me. I don't want to be a drawback in this mission.”

“You won't be,” he said, but noticed you were unconvinced when the corner of your lip lifted in what was supposed to be a polite smile, but didn't quite reach your eyes. “You graduated as the top eighth trainee in the police academy, surpassing like, what, 22 of your classmates? That's pretty impressive.” You stared at him in a mix of confusion and surprise and he shrugged nonchalantly. “I've read your file. You've got a lot of potential, officer.”

You smiled and nodded as thanks. In the past, this kind of compliment would've left you feeling all warm and fuzzy on the inside, feeding into your pride and fuelling your determination to get even better. But now, the comment felt like tossing a coin down an endless pit, nowhere near enough to fill the hollow space in your chest and, despite its value, ultimately useless. When did your outlook on your job get so sour?

Maybe it was when you were put up for disciplinary action after attempting to stop one of your fellow officers from brutalising a murder suspect. Or maybe when you had one case shut down because the culprit was the daughter of an acclaimed attorney that somehow found the perfect team of lawyers to render the evidence null. Or maybe it was simply after you had graduated from the academy and were thrown out into the real world. Any way, perhaps this was the universe's way of making up for all the times it fucked up. By giving you a new opportunity.

You picked up the pen from Hawks's desk and fiddled with it. “Officer, huh? I thought my new name was Rook.”

Hawks chuckled. “They're really terrible at picking codenames, huh? Sounds like we're just two bird enthusiasts with no imagination.”

You chuckled at his comment and after a moment you bent down to rummage through the box in which you had collected your remaining possessions from your desk, pulling out a document. You opened it, quickly finding the file in which you and Hawks took notes about your action plan.

“So,” you started, scrolling through the notes, “you were saying you already have a way to get inside the League?”

Hawks leaned forward on his elbows to get a better look at the notes. “Well, yes and no. Enji didn't tell you this, but remember how I said we've been investigating the League for a while? Well, I've been in contact with one of the members. I managed to get close enough for him to think I'll soon defect and join them.”

“So you've been planning to go undercover for a while now?”

“It's the only way I could squeeze any information out of them. They seem pretty loyal to their cause, so getting one of them to become an informant for the PSC was highly unlikely.”

You nodded in thought. “So who's your contact?”

“A guy named Dabi.”

Your blood ran cold and your eyes shot up to Hawks. You knew that name too well. Not only was he notoriously known among the law enforcement as one of the most dangerous members of the League, but he was the person responsible for numerous counts of arson in your area, courtesy of his pyromaniacal tendencies. You'd been trying to find a way to get closer to catching him for years. Each time, he slipped out of your hands, your attempts always too late or too little.

You knew what Dabi was capable of, and without the comfort of a self defence weapon and protective equipment by your side, you feared you'd be turned to ash before you even tried to get any information out of the League.

You stared through Hawks for a few seconds. His eyes searched your expression as he frowned in confusion at your sudden change. You noticed that and blinked a few times, clearing your throat.

“So this contact is our ticket inside, but how do I get him to trust me? I think I'd be found out before I even get to talk to him.”

“No need to worry, I'll send him your way somehow. You then offer to be their informant. We'll have to act separately to avoid raising suspicion, so if we cross paths, try acting like you don't know me personally.”

You nodded in acknowledgement then remained quiet for a second before frowning in thought.

“I don't understand. If you already have an in, then why would the Commission send me to help?”

Hawks sighed. “You heard what the Commission said, you'll be the bait.” He leaned back in his chair. “The League is reluctant to let me join because I'm a well-known detective. They know who I am and what I do, but they don't know you. If you manage to convince them you're also just a crooked law enforcer, that would be the last step we need to finally get inside.”

“How am I supposed to do that?”

Hawks regarded you thoughtfully, tilting his head and looking you up and down. His scrutinising eyes seemed to glow as the final rays of dusk poured through the blinds of his office window. Before he even spoke, you knew that his idea would not be to your liking.

“Say, how comfortable are you with flirting?”

[nataliepruitts]

Our Precious Gem | Possessive!Bully! Tomura, Touya, & Kai x Reader

Chapter 2

~~~~~~~~~~

Tomura pulls you by the arm over to the desk where you will be sitting and you soon find yourself sitting between him and Kai with Touya sitting next to Tomura. You heard some of the other girls groan in disappointment, they were hoping the boys would sit next to them, especially Kai. It never failed, at every school you guys went to the girls would always throw themselves at the three boys and you know it's mostly because of their families and their positions. A lot of girls like to think that they would be the most popular in town if they got with one of the three boys who rule the town.

But the boys always see straight through them, Tomura always notices the slight grimaces or looks of disgust some girls give when they look at him, even when they try to flirt with him. He knows that the girls are only after him because of his status in town, but even if a girl didn't look disgusted by his appearance he still would reject them. Touya always got a lot of girls throwing themselves at him because of his handsome baby face and the bad boy vibes he gives. But he always brutally rejects them each time. They hate everyone in society, everyone in this town, especially these girls who are looking to raise their status in town or looking to get their money so they can get fancy stuff.

Kai always seems to be the main one getting the attention, girls are always drooling over him. But he never acknowledges any of them, he always looks disgusted by everyone. He sees everyone as giant walking germs that he needs to avoid. Every time a girl tries to touch him he just pushes her away and starts calling her bad names while telling her to never touch him again, then he runs to the nearest bathroom and washes her germs off him.

You couldn't help but laugh at all the girls who would try to get close to them, the girls who thought they would be the one to capture one of their hearts and get one of them wrapped around their little finger only to be devastated when they get pushed away and mistreated. Eventually, all the girls become too scared to approach them and you always feel sorry for them. 

You watch the girls in the classroom as they try to give flirty looks to the three boys and you feel so bad for them, they obviously have the same thoughts the other girls did and you know they're gonna end up getting hurt.

You're brought out of your thoughts when Kai leans over and starts whispering to you, "Get rid of this stupid idea that you can escape us because you can't. No matter where you go to get away from us we will track you down and find you."

You look into his eyes and your blood runs cold, the seriousness in his eyes scares you. But along with the seriousness you see something else there, something that's been in all of their eyes since you showed them that kindness in grade school. The same thing you kept seeing in their eyes all through middle school, even when they would bully you it would be present in their eyes. You were never able to understand what it was until now, when you discover that there's nowhere in this town you can go to escape them because they will find you wherever you run to. You now understand what it is…

Obsession and possessiveness.

You look down at your desk as your heart races, it can't be true. There is no way these three boys who have been bullying you since grade school have become obsessed and possessive over you. It's not true, they hate you too much.

You push the thought out of your head as you pay attention to the teacher, it's a ridiculous notion. When the class ends you quickly get up to go to your next class, hoping they're not in that one too. You run down the hall in hopes that they're not gonna follow you, you just want to get away from them, but luck isn't on your side. You heard the sounds of running feet behind you as their voices echoed through the hall. "Y/n! Y/n, stop!" Their voices send shivers through your body because they sound really pissed.

You make it to the classroom and find the teacher there getting ready for the lesson, "Y/n, is everything alright?" She asked after seeing the slightly scared and worried look on your face. You just nod before going to take your seat. "Are you sure?" She questions you again but before you can answer Tomura, Touya, and Kai come walking into the classroom, "Oh, you must be the new students. Welcome, take a seat anywhere."

Your eyes widened. They’re in this class too? You see them walking toward you with a pissed off look on their faces and you quickly sit down at the table you've been sitting at. You see Kai take the seat next to you while Touya pulls a chair over to the side of the table, sitting on the other side of you, a bit too close for your comfort. Kai scoots his chair over a bit so Tomura can squeeze in at the table as well, they refuse to sit at the other tables where they would have to deal with the other students so you find yourself wedged between Touya and Kai.

You're so close to them that your arms and legs are touching theirs and Touya shifts himself where his shoulder is pressed against yours. "Why the fuck did you run?" Touya asked through gritted teeth.

"And after I told you to get rid of this stupid idea that you can get away from us," Kai added.

"I wasn't trying to run away, I was just trying to get to my next class." Well, it wasn't a complete lie.

"Liar. You better stop trying to get away from us because you're stuck with us," Touya said with a smirk. "We already arranged to be in all the classes you're in."

You let out a groan as you laid your head on the table with your forehead pressing against the surface. You feel fingers brush through your hair before the hand goes down to rub your back, you lift your head and see that Kai is the one rubbing your back. This boy confuses you, he hates coming into contact with people because he doesn't want to get their germs and he looks at everyone with disgust except for Touya and Tomura. But every so often he touches you and doesn't seem to care, he doesn't even look disgusted by the thought of being in contact with you.

"Um… Excuse me…" You look up to see the boy who was your seatmate, "That's my seat you're sitting in."

You felt Kai tighten his grip on the back of your shirt like he felt that if he didn't get a grip on you then you were gonna slip away again. "Your seat?" Kai asked as he glared at the boy. You could tell they were tensing up.

"I'm sorry, Ling. These are my friends from middle school, they got a bit of a late start on high school and we've been catching up. I told them that they could be my seatmates since they don't know anybody here, so you're gonna have to sit with someone else. Sorry."

"Oh, it's no problem, I didn't know they were old friends of yours. Can we still have lunch together?"

"No, she'll be eating with us," Touya answered before you could. And there goes all the friends you could have made in high school, by the time they're through, nobody will even want to talk to you.

Ling didn't say anything else as he scampered away to sit at another table, he was scared by just the glares he got from the three. You look over at Kai, "Kai, are you sure you don't want to sit over where Tomura is?"

Kai glares at you, "You don't want to sit next to me or something?"

"No, no, it's nothing like that. I know how you hate being so close to other people because you hate germs and with how close we're sitting it's kind of hard not to come into contact with each other." Your cheeks start turning red at the thought of being so close to both Kai and Touya. You look down at your arms as you pick at the stitches on your sleeves, "I just don't want you to be uncomfortable," you finish before looking back over at him.

If you didn't know any better you would swear that you saw affection in his eyes, maybe some endearment. If there was anything there it quickly vanished when he started laughing. "I don't need a pathetic loser like you worrying about me. I'm just fine."

You heard Touya and Tomura chuckling, you need to remember that you're nothing but amusement to them.

[makeste]

BnHA Volume 36 - Reaction Journey Part 2

continuing on our journey following yesterday’s volume 35 post! some more out-of-context random bullet point reactions taken from my reaction posts for each chapter. the full reactions for each chapter will go up eventually once I finish my manga catch-up marathon (currently at chapter 367).

spoiler warning: just fyi, this post will obviously feature spoilers for chapters 350-362, BUT it will also include a couple of stray spoilers from chapter 403 as well, so just a heads up for that if you aren’t fully caught up!

Chapter 351

friends, we are about to embark upon the most dramatic, theatrical, Shakespearean disaster of a fight this series has ever witnessed. brace yourselves

yes Shouto, that’s just cuz he literally doesn’t feel pain and doesn’t care if he lives or dies :’)

IS THIS PART OF THE PLAN??? IS SHOUTO NOT FIGHTING BACK BECAUSE HE’S TOO BUSY CONCENTRATING ON WHATEVER THING HE’S DOING?? BECAUSE IF NOT HOLY SHIT. YOU’RE ALLOWED TO FIGHT BACK SHOUTO

actually come to think of it, he hasn’t attacked once so far. not even the usual giant ice wall opener move. he’s definitely got something up his sleeve. but my god man in the meantime this is hard to watch

sorry Touya, but as justified as your grudge against Enji might be, your grudge against Shouto? not so much. I get it, life handed Shouto the keys to your dream life and he had the audacity to say he didn’t want to drive. but Shouto is allowed to make his own choices, and want his own things. for that matter, so are you. but you’re just stuck. gah. it’s so frustrating and yet the psychology of it is so incredibly compelling

“I might not have the clearest sense of my own identity, but at least I didn’t kill 30 people” fjdsjd gottem

“phosphor” is such a next-level attack name. pretty sure it has more to do with light than fire/heat, but with as white-hot as this attack looks to be, I get it and it definitely works

Chapter 352

love that Kaminari’s instinct when seeing this giant flaming X on Shouto’s chest is to immediately poke it. repeatedly. while Shouto just stands there and vibrates uncomfortably

finally!! a proper half-cold-half-hot ultimate supermove!! though I still don’t quite understand how “making fire that doesn’t actually burn things” is going to help in a battle in any kind of way. BUT I CAN’T WAIT TO BE PROPERLY EDUCATED

he’s thanking Deku. for helping him start to discover his true self all those eons ago. what a sweet sweet boy

omg here it comes ULTIMATE MOVE YESSSS

SLAM DUNK NAME AND VISUAL!!! 10/10!!! HELL FUCKING YEAH WAY TO LIVE UP TO THE HYPE HOLY SHIT

fuck. okay, yeah. if you give me a shounen character reminiscing over his hard-earned personal growth, and feeling profound gratitude toward his friends who helped him get this far, and then you suddenly hit me with the crying little kid panels to remind us of who these two characters really are, at the end of the day, once you strip away all the rest of it. you show me little baby Touya who’s just desperate to be loved and validated and acknowledged. and you show me little baby Shouto who understands his brother’s feelings completely, and doesn’t want to actually be here doing this, but knows that he has to because there’s no one else who can. if you go ahead and show me all of that!! well then!! I mean, good fucking job!! you knew exactly what you were doing!! well done!! you got the tears again so well done to you!! lmao

Chapter 353

okay is every single person here trying to jinx themselves now?? you guys do realize how absurdly lucky you are that Shouto finished his epic battle in the span of only 2 chapters? are you trying to draw more misfortune to yourselves??

“hey guys! great news, Todoroki already finished his fight” fdfklskf Kacchan’s gonna fucking lose it lmao. to say nothing of poor Deku who’s still busy hurtling across the Pacific

WHO IS THIS??!

lol what. he’s wearing a shirt collar and suit jacket as pants. and he’s got weird carpet hair and a disquietingly sexy face. AND FLOWER POWER?? who, is this, and why has it taken us 353 chapters to meet him. OR HER??? GENDER-AMBIGUOUS ON TOP OF EVERYTHING ELSE. YOUR FIGHT BETTER BE COOL AS HELL YOU WEIRDO

how is Spinner actually TWENTY FEET TALL NOW??? like, that earlier panel wasn’t actually a fluke or something, that was actually happening?? you smashed a bridge to pieces?!? somehow you’re a Kaijuu now???

this seriously cannot be it though, especially since Iida didn’t even get to do anything. and I really, really, really fucking hate how nervous it’s making me noooo whyyyy

Chapter 354

there is no possible way anything Endeavor tries here will actually work. he’s giving off so many dead man walking vibes right now and I am not okay

DOES FIRE EVEN WORK ON AFO?? LORD KNOWS IT DOESN’T WORK ON ANYBODY ELSE

Hawks is shouting at him lol. “remember what happened to All Might in Kamino!” for real though! how do they keep falling for it??

oh my god what a sickening realization. to learn that the reason you never found your child was that he was taken. not killed, but taken. that it was never even an accident at all, but deliberate. he was targeted and hurt and taken because of you. and the man responsible for it is standing right here in front of you

YOU HAD SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLDS??? YOU HAD MORE SUPERPOWERED OP SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLDS IN RESERVE THIS ENTIRE TIME???? AND YOU DIDN’T THINK TO USE THEM????

what’s AFO even going to do to them lol. I would love to see AFO stumble around and try to come up with some big intimidating weak-point-attacking speech for Tokoyami “The Darkness Is Where I Make My Home” Fumikage. he would probably love it. just sit there hungrily lapping it all up. “no but please keep telling me more about how tormented my soul is, this is great”

Chapter 355

I can’t believe Jirou and Tokoyami are about to fight god

I love Tokoyami and Hawks’s relationship so, so much. there’s just so much trust between the two of them. like on the surface it might seem like Hawks keeps underestimating Tokoyami every step of the way. but in reality it’s more that Hawks, being a former child soldier himself, is extremely reluctant to subject someone else to that, regardless of whether the circumstances are the same, and regardless of how capable Tokoyami keeps proving himself to be. yet another example of Hawks being continuously forced to walk a razor-thin line between decisions that he can live with, and decisions that will actually keep him alive. Tokoyami is a phenomenally powerful fighter, and his presence here absolutely helps tip the scales in their favor. but it’s also an insanely dangerous place for him to be, and so of course Hawks doesn’t want him here

meanwhile on Tokoyami’s end, he started out simply wanting to prove himself to Hawks, but once Hawks opened up to him, his exasperation almost immediately gave way to admiration and respect. and then he almost lost him at Jakku, and I think that really did a number on him, and so he’s so attached to and protective of him now. and I think that in turn has caused Hawks to try and keep his distance a little more, both because he has no idea how to deal with that emotionally, and because he doesn’t want Toko getting hurt. it’s such a delightfully complex relationship and I want to hold it and protect it with everything I have

AFO IS A BAD BITCH YES, BUT YOU ARE EVEN BADDER JIROU GET HIS ASS

lol he is REALLY cheesed about her showing him up in the previous chapter. definitely took it personally

I’m getting so many Bakugou vibes from this. legit getting chills over here. “shut your stupid mouth already.” she recognized the small dick energy a mile away

DIDN’T EVEN NEED ENDEAVOR AFTER ALL LMAO. THAT’S THE COOL, REFRESHING POWER OF JIROU

Chapter 356

AFO LITERALLY CAN’T EVEN PROCESS WHAT’S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW AND IT’S AMAZING

it’s okay to admit you just suck and are getting your ass whooped by Hawks and the sixteen-year-olds

what are you, a Zelda boss?? so he’s got a fucking phase 2 now?? WHY ARE YOU THE MOST ANNOYING MAN

DON’T DIE ENJI YOU FUCKING LOSER YOUR BOYS NEED CLOSURE AND SO DO I GODDAMMIT

ARE YOU REALLY DOING THIS WITH JUST THE ONE ARM YOU ABSOLUTE LUNATIC

anyways, wow. after getting COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY shown up by newly minted main character Jirou Kyouka, Endeavor got his moment after all. whatever else he may be, he’s a damn good fucking hero. and if anyone deserves to get punched so hard they burst into flames, it’s AFO, so yeah

Chapter 357

what a sassy little birb. like how he now has the sexy soon-to-be scar as well! you are now officially a Todoroki

YOU CAN SHOOT FIRE OUT OF YOUR EYEBALLS NOW?? YOU SHOOT LASERS?? THAT’S JUST A THING THAT YOU DO NOW???

fff Endeavor please don’t die :|!!!!

please zap AFO’s other hand!!! I am getting so freaking anxious right now. he’s either gonna win it all here or else something terrible is about to happen

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK

DID HORIKOSHI KNOW??? WHEN HE WAS DRAWING THIS??? THAT IT WAS ACTUALLY GOING TO BE THE SINGLE WORST THING ANYONE HAS EVER DRAWN!??!?!!

OH MY GOD I SCROLLED DOWN AND IT WASN'T ACTUALLY THE END OF THE CHAPTER AHHHHHH. FOR SOME REASON I JUST ASSUMED IT WAS. POSSIBLY BECAUSE ALL I WANT RIGHT NOW IS TO FLING THIS MANGA AWAY FROM ME AND INCINERATE IT WITH A BLOWTORCH

Chapter 358

did TomurAFO really just slap a huge chunk of the iconic U.A. school building to pieces with his disgusting infinityhands all unceremoniously just like that. is nothing sacred anymore. what are you gonna do next?? kill off the most popular character??

“so anyway here’s 1000 words on why me becoming a despot is actually a good thing” dude just shut up and get back to slapping shit already

KACCHAN WENT TO THE SUPPORT COURSE FOR AN UPGRADE?? AND WE WERE DEPRIVED OF THAT ENTIRE INTERACTION?! YOU’RE TELLING ME THAT KACCHAN HAS MET HATSUME MEI AND IT WAS OFFSCREENED?? I am suing this manga for wasting my life

magnificent. inspired. I can’t believe this child is going to be fucking dead like three chapters from now (˘̩̩̩ε˘̩ƪ)

THE PALPABLE FUCKING CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!!

FUCK YEAH KACCHAN MAKE THE BAD MAN GO BOOM

Chapter 359

is this dude actually livestreaming the battle

bitch he’s going toe to toe with the final villain while you’re down in the basement making a Tiktok. you are not the same

HIS FUCKING ARM, FUCK ME. FUCK. FUCK!!

his arm is literal splinters right now and all he cares about is that TomurAFO wasn’t impressed with his new cluster move :’’’’) it’s okay. it’s okay this is fine

this is literally Aizawa’s worst nightmare. greatest fear come to life. one of his students is hurt and in danger and he can’t do anything. Shirakumo all over again. Bakugou is about to die right in front of him and he’s so fucking desperate but he can’t do anything

omg. what a goated fucking chapter. Bakugou angst! Aizawa angst!! Aizawa Being Terrified Over An Imminent Threat to Bakugou’s Safety angst!! and to top it all off, “YOU’RE CLOSER TO MIDORIYA IZUKU THAN ANYONE AND THAT’S WHY I’M ABOUT TO MAKE YOU SUFFER” angst. hoooooooooooly shit

Chapter 360

so he’s literally just. torturing him. just fucking around. wow

WHY IS TOMURAFO JUST CONTINUING TO HAVE ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD TO KEEP ON DOING THIS. WHERE THE FUCK ARE ALL THE REST OF THE HEROES?? FFS, DEKU’S NOT HERE TO THROW A BACKPACK THIS TIME, WHY DOES EVERYONE ELSE FUCKING SUCK SO HARD AT SAVING HIM?!

Studio Bones is gonna have to utilize some sort of AI program to autogenerate these hand things for all their fight scenes. I feel really sorry for that AI and I just hope that it doesn’t somehow develop sentience and take revenge on us all. it would be within its rights to do so

MIRIOOOOOOOO. ACTUAL BEST CHARACTER IN THE SERIES!!! YOU CAN LAUGH AT KACCHAN’S HERO NAME ALL YOU WANT YOU FUCKING STUD. YOU EARNED IT

why was this man not our vanguard. why, when we lost our trump card in the first ten seconds of the fight, did it not occur to a single person that, WELL HEY, SINCE IT LOOKS LIKE THE DEKU THING MIGHT NOT END UP WORKING OUT. WHAT IF WE JUST, YOU KNOW, MIRIO

welp. if anyone needs me. I’ll be in my room crying over fictional characters

Chapter 361

QUICKLY NOW! WHILE HE’S DISTRACTED REMEMBERING HOW HE USED TO BE CUTE AND NOT-EVIL!!

why do I feel like Mirio also got the strange, fleeting impression that he was talking to someone else other than TomurAFO for a moment there? he looks like he’s WEIRDED OUT AS ALL FUCK, but also genuinely sorry for offending him lol

JEANIST IS STANDING UP AND TRYING TO DISTRACT TOMURAFO TO PROTECT KACCHAN, I AM YET AGAIN AWASH IN FEELINGS

I know I sound like a broken record here but Tamaki, not allowed to die, etc. etc. just so we’re clear Horikoshi. I don’t trust you to remember!!

WHAT THE FUCK DID THEY FEED THIS KID BEFORE THEY WENT INTO BATTLE OMFG!!!!!!!

WHAT A TERRIFYING THING TO BEHOLD. I DON’T SEE HOW THIS IS GOING TO DO FUCKALL AGAINST TOMURAFO NO MATTER HOW EXCITED THEY ARE ABOUT IT, BUT EVEN SO, GODDAMN

Chapter 362

oh my GOD WHY DOES MY HEART ALREADY HURT SO MUCH aaaaugh I’m not going to survive this am I. Kacchan we’ll die together

did he already know?! NOBODY FUCKING TOLD ME HE ALREADY KNEW?? HE KNEW HOW IT WOULD END, AND HE WENT WILLINGLY. THE SACRIFICE PLAY, oh my god, my heart is pieces

Jeanist’s eyes are so wide and he’s using his quirk and telling Katsuki to stop. he knows. what tipped you off. was it the “take care of everyone” while standing up with sudden terrifying purpose even though he’s already half-dead. was it that. it was that wasn’t it

I AM SO NOT FINE RIGHT NOW IT’S UNBELIEVABLE

that’s it. it’s over. Horikoshi’s won. it’s all fucking over we never stood a fucking chance in hell

Kacchan’s face, when he’s not scrunching it up in a glare, or a frown, or grinning like a homicidal maniac, never ceases to just effortlessly slip past every last one of my defenses. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, he just looks so freaking young. like the schoolboy he in fact is. far, far too young to be caught up in a war and facing his own imminent death

seeing him like this now, in his own mental landscape, where he’s free to be himself, and seeing how much of a difference it makes in his demeanor almost immediately, just hits me real fucking hard. he was just way too hard on himself. and he never let himself ask for the autograph because he never felt like he fully earned it, and now it’s too late (or so he thinks), and just. guh

Kacchan dying with that much regret in his heart is not fucking okay and I wanna fight a man about it even though it didn’t even actually wind up happening sob

I love, and hate, that every single other hero there actually did try to stop it. they just weren’t fast enough. god

PUTTING HIS PARENTS THERE WAS A DICK MOVE ON HORIKOSHI’S PART. OH HELLO BAKUFAM HOW ARE YOU, AND BY THE WAY, YOUR CHILD JUST DIED. WHAT A TERRIBLE DAY FOR RAIN

[todomitoukei]

Wow, this fact about Enji's language referring to the boys now makes everything even more tragic!

In the Japanese dub, Enji said "Are-ra wa" [アレらは/あれらは], calling the boys 'those/these' like they're just some things. (It seems that he saw Fuyumi even less than that by not even mentioning her.)

And Touya heard him! This makes the next scene in which Touya talks to little Natsuo in their bedroom about how they're failed creative works who are not being associated with, have even more sense and being more tragic.

And yes, あいつ can be usually used in a friendly way with ppl you get along with, but for what I've seen, the tone Enji's used is not any near friendly, unfortunately 💀. And he could have just used あの子 when he was referring to Touya, like Rei did in chapter 302.

And Rei used the more formal way of aitsu which is あの人 when she was at her breaking point in ch 39 when she was referring to Enji. Which makes Enji's choice to refer to Touya as あいつ [that guy] even more upsetting

He's referring to all the siblings, including Fuyumi. The way the pluralizer works in Japanese is you name one person and then add the pluralizing suffix (like tachi or the more casual ra that is used in that specific scene) to indicate the additional people/things are part of the same group as whoever/whatever was mentioned first.

So here you have niisan (older brother) + ra (pluralizer), so older brother as well as the people in his group (= Natsuo and Fuyumi). While he is referring to all the siblings, there is a slight emphasis on Touya, the only sibling aside from Shouto that was ever trained by Endvr and considered for the position as masterpiece.

Yes, Touya has always been very aware of their family situation - he understood why their family was created by Endvr and even knew about Rei's messed up family background. They do say ignorance is bliss so he probably would've been slightly less affected by the whole situation had he been an idiot (slightly because he still would've been affected by the lack of affection from his father regardless of whether or not he was aware of this being a necessity).

You're right, あの子 (ano ko) and あの人 (ano hito) would be the standard, polite ways of referring to another person, but Endvr didn't see his kids as people so naturally, he didn't use those words.

I'm still working on a big post about all the ways the Todofam has referred to one another, so eventually there will be a bigger post summarizing all that (I'll have more time next month so hopefully I'll get around to finishing it then).

[thyandrawrites]

I was rereading chapter 44 for fic writing purposes and

Oh my god

Can't believe I never put the pieces together before

Shouto's internal monologue here is literally foreshadowing. Change the subject of his thoughts from Rei to Touya and all of it still perfectly applies. The narrative significance of Shouto facing an estranged family member that might still hold resentment for him; Shouto's wish to reconnect mixed with the fear that makes his hands shake on that door handle (not dissimilar to his uncertainty towards Touya after the first war); the way Shouto's made to feel like he's the one holding the family member back from healing, together with his dad, despite that being a false belief and solely Enji's fault; the way it's purely Shouto's resolve that bridges that distance; the stress on Shouto feeling responsible for the abuse Rei suffered and the uncertainty he feels as the 'source' of her unhappiness (and by extension, Touya's).

The use of the word "existence" in particular stands out as significant: in jp, the word used here is the same Touya uses when he says he couldn't figure out why he "existed". The line that was translated as "with all I got" in japanese specifically has him talking about his body, thus referring more outwardly to his baggage as the "masterpiece" than as the pep talk it appears to be here. Which works as another callback to Touya's hangups

And then of course there's the most blatant hint that this is indeed supposed to read as foreshadowing:

"even if she's not asking for it"

Which directly ties to the war arc and Deku's resolve (mirrored by Ochako and, indeed, Shouto), to extend a helping hand to the villains even if they don't want the heroes' help.

And then, as the cherry on top, Shouto's eventual success here is framed as the one challenge he needs to overcome to truly call himself a hero.

🤯🤯

He's not. just talking. about Rei. At least on a metatextual level. Blows my mind.

But of course you won't know that until you reread everything from the beginning.

Rei was the first step towards Shouto finding his path as a hero, but the way Touya's next is woven into the story as early as this, and it's set up as the eventual climax of Shouto's arc right from the start

Chapter 44, guys. Dabi was introduced a couple of chapters later. Take that, haters. Shouto saving his brother was always in the plans.

You can say many things about Horikoshi's writing and its ups and downs, but you gotta hand it to him, this is super neat

[slexenskee]

hello!! i was rereading mdnsy and started wondering why you always use 'gojo' instead of satoru while naming him in his own pov. is there a reason for it?

sorry I'm not answering this privately but I do get asked this a lot so I figured it's better to just keep it out there 😅

A bunch of reasons swinging from random preference, literary/readability, and plot/characterization. Preference - idk for whatever reason A LOT of jjk fics refer to him exclusively as Gojo. I think that's bc a lot of them have him as a mc but its not from his POV, or its someone else's (usually Yuuji). I got into the habit of referring to him as Gojo in my head after reading it so much lol.

Which kinda leads me into Plot - that kinda stuck with me and in the end I ended up characterizing Gojo in my head as someone who has outrageously uncontrolled and untreated identity issues lmao. He was literally born as some fated sorcerer and his entire personal identity was intrinsically tied to being the Six Eyes holder. No one in his life looked at him as 'Satoru', he was always the Gojo heir and the Six Eyes holder. From a young age that's how he saw himself - reinforced by the fact I imagine he was probably almost always referred to as 'young master Gojo' by everyone in his life. He doesn't seem to have any kind of relationship with his parents in canon, so idk honestly who in his life would have been close enough to call him Satoru, at least not until high school. So Gojo himself doesn't even see himself as Satoru. Frankly if he had to pick a 'persona' that he truly identifies with, it would be his title 'The Honored One', but the weight of using just 'Gojo' with all its history and legacy (six eyes, clan, etc) is a close second.

This is also why he has no issue going from Touya, Dabi, Six Eyes, Satoru, and Ru-kun interchangeably in the story. They're all both aspects of his identity and also not really titles he identifies with at all, so he doesn't really care what people call him.

!!! ok somewhat spoiler-ish, but this is an intentional plot device that is meant to change as he grows in the story and starts to come to terms with himself as a human and not just the Gojo clan's lauded Six Eyes holder.

There's a part in one of (?) the next few chapters where he's asked directly what name he prefers, and he says 'You can call me Touya if you like, but I prefer Satoru'. A very different and more intentional response than the one he had in the last chapter where Nighteye asked what to call him and he was just like 'uhhh Six Eyes I guess since I'm here as a hero? idk lol'

Eventually he'll finally get to the point where he stops seeing himself as just the living avatar of the 'Honored One/current Six Eyes holder' and actually as Satoru, the person. Buuttttt idk if I'll ever stop calling him Gojo in his POV though, for the reason below ~

As for readability and a literary device - there are so many POVs in this fic and all of them call Gojo something different: Dabi for most, Touya for Fuyumi/Natsuo, Ru-kun for Katsuki, Satoru for Yui/the band, Six Eyes thrown in every once in a while. And all those POVs will change what they refer to him as depending on context, like sometimes Hawks thinks of him as Satoru, other times as Dabi. I wanted Gojo's POV to be very obviously removed from all his various names. Gojo's POV is the only POV where he's referred to by one name only.

[astridthevalkyrie]

inferno | enji todoroki x reader | chapter 1

“Why do you want to be a hero?” he finally asks, knowing the answer doesn’t matter. “Doesn’t everyone want to be number one?” You shrug. “If you don’t agree, I’ll tell everyone it’s because I’m a woman and expose you as a misogynist.”

warnings: afab reader with she/her pronouns, age difference, enji's bad parenting, eventual smut, eventual daddy kink probably

a/n: right off the bat this is an au where enji and rei are divorced and touya never “died” because i can’t do my girl rei dirty (she’s living her best life away from fire ppl) and frankly touya being alive and well (relatively) just adds a certain spice to the story. enji is still a terrible dad and i’ve got issues lol

word count: 1.3k

Next

“Sup, Endeavour,” you greet when the door opens, popping the p.

The number one hero stands before you, and his eyes take you in sharply—from the equestrian boots on your feet to the bell bottom jeans trailing up your legs to the black crop top that hugs your chest and shoulders to the Ray-Bans covering your eyes to the coffee in your hand that you obnoxiously take a sip out of as you stare at him.

Then, bluntly, he asks, “Who the hell are you?”

Without answering, you make your way in, even though he towers over you, and Enji’s first thought is to burn you alive. It would be justified, considering you’re breaking and entering his residence. But an intruder would know that, wouldn’t they? An intruder, even a foolish one, would be ready for an attack. From the way you only take another sip of your coffee and raise your glasses to peer around the foyer, you’re either so beyond help that you accidentally stumbled here or you’re entirely confident that you could beat him in a fight.

Frankly, he’d rather question the young woman before he incinerates her.

“This is a nice place.” You whistle lowly, settling the Ray-Bans atop your head before turning to face him. “Oh, right. I’d like you to train and sponsor me.”

“Get out,” Enji says. He should have gone with the burn first, ask later method.

“Please?” You just your lower lip out; it’s still wet from your drink. 

“Get out or I’ll call the authorities.”

You’re nothing special, he realizes as your fist balls up, just a child who wandered too far from home. Countless people have begged him to train them, thinking that he has the time or the patience or the willingness to waste his time on such a pointless task. Mostly it’s men and women who he has at least heard of, as half rate as they are. Even being a friend of a friend of a friend of a colleague can go a long way, but never has someone demanded such outrageous things without even a reference to back them up.

He never gave in to any of them, so whatever delusion you created to think you could even ask must be a hell of a drug.

With an infernal pout still on your face, you set the plastic cup down on his console table, the one Fuyumi picked out three years ago and the one he’s never so much as let a stain form on. 

“Don’t call the authorities.” Slowly, one after the other, your lashes flutter, and it’s been so long since any woman has looked at him like that in such proximity that he actually feels a redness creep up his neck, making him cough into his fist, sending you a furious, stern gaze over his hand. “C’mon, I haven’t even shown you my quirk yet.”

“I said no.”

“It’s called inferno.” You snap your fingers, and in a second, you’ve set your top half on fire, including your head. 

The smoke detector goes off right away, even as he shouts, pinning you to the wall and covering your face with a large hand. The flames sear his hand, much like Touya’s used to, much hotter than the fire he creates. He isn’t able to control fire that he didn’t create, but that doesn’t matter, you’re going to burn alive and he needs to absorb it because he didn’t actually mean to kill you.

It takes three seconds for him to feel a movement against his hand that he realizes is your lips and another four for him to catch your muffled voice, very much not burnt to a crisp.

“Ey! Hey! Endeavor!” Your squirming turns to smacks against the back of his hand, and he only then realizes he’s crushing you. “I’m fine! I’m fine!”

The advanced water systems have already gone off, soaking you both in water. In a few minutes, he’ll receive a personal call from the fire marshall, who will be in the middle of shoving his boots on, asking him frantically if everything is alright.

And what will Enji tell him? That a brat broke into his home and set it off by trying to cremate herself?

“We have the same quirk,” you whisper, eyes gleaming as you bring his hand down—his thumb accidentally catches your lower lip and Enji pulls back in disgust. The sprinklers have water trickling down your face, putting out the last bits of flames on your eyelashes. “Only fire doesn’t burn me at all. I could sit in it for hours and I wouldn’t have a mark.” Without even trying, your Ray-Bans fall over your eyes again, so he can’t even see your eyes as you proceed to lean back against the wall, clearly not minding the water dripping onto your neck. “You have a setback—you can overheat. You’ve tried having multiple kids and one of them can cool himself down, but I don’t need to do that. I’ll never overheat. You want someone who can take the number one spot without just defaulting to it? Sponsor me, and I’ll be the best damn hero you’ve ever seen.”

Now that you’ve explained yourself, he really wishes he had just thrown you out when he got the chance. Because now there is something in Enji’s throat, an opportunity, a dangerous opportunity and a path that he was just starting to stray from. In front of him is a mold of clay to shape, but not one of his own creation—and he’d be insane to not be skeptical of something falling into his lap like this. The irrational (or is it rational?) part of his mind tells him that he’d be equally as insane to let you walk out the door with nothing.

“How old are you?” is the question he finally settles on, glaring, not letting you in on a single thought of his.

“Twenty-six. Plenty old enough to be a pro, don’t you think?”

“Why didn’t you go to a hero school or university?”

The droplets rolling down your arms do nothing to make your skin look less delicate, even though it was surrounded by flames a minute ago. “Don’t like working in a classroom setting. I prefer one-on-ones.”

“Why not approach my son instead? He’s closer to your age.”

“No offense, Endeavor.” You push your hair out of your face—Enji has the urge to rip your sunglasses off your face and crush them under his feet. “But your son is notoriously bad to work with. And so are you, but he hasn’t figured out how to make it part of his brand yet, and I’d rather train with the top hero in Japan instead of a nepo baby that only debuted this year and isn’t in the charts at all.”

A shallow child, he realizes. Either there is no thought behind that head, but, and he thinks this is the far more likely conclusion, you are just inherently a cruel person.

Much like him. The only reason he’s survived so far is because unlike other horrible folks, he doesn’t break so easily. You look so flimsy that he’s sure if he bends you enough you’ll crack like a board, but Shoto will not answer his texts, Touya has sworn him off and Natsuo and Fuyumi will never have what he desires. Maybe someone easy to break is what he needs, someone that he can destroy and build back up, someone that is begging for him to do such a thing.

“Why do you want to be a hero?” he finally asks, knowing the answer doesn’t matter.

“Doesn’t everyone want to be number one?” You shrug. “If you don’t agree, I’ll tell everyone it’s because I’m a woman and expose you as a misogynist.”

His phone rings in his pocket. Enji takes it out, flipping it open (you snort) before pressing it to his ear.

“Hello. No, no emergency, we’re fine.” He settles you with a hard look, hoping you’re ready for the absolute hell he plans to inflict upon you. “I was just training my newest student.”

[haleigh-sloth]

What Present Mic said to Shiragiri in this chapter bothered me, and I know it's best to wait until the full translation but I doubt the translation is going to make it sound better I'm pretty sure it's going to be the same thing still. I'm tired of the villians being dehumanized.

It's good that it bothers you, because it's supposed to.

Mic was never the one who was going to be super tied to ShiraGiri's influence on the battlefield. That was always, always Aizawa.

Mic is barely a character. I mean he's been there from the beginning, but beyond knowing his attachment to Shirakumo and Aizawa, he doesn't have much to him. So it wouldn't have made sense for him to have an open mind.

Not to mention, I feel like people forget this actually, look at the difference in his and Aizawa's reactions to Aoyama:

Mic has a slightly averse reaction to Aizawa saying he "feels the same as the kids" (foreshadowing much?). And then:

Mic says this, meanwhile Aizawa:

I mean, imo Mic hasn't earned the "suddenly an open minded old gen hero ready to change the status quo" role in the story. I expect him to ultimately side with Aizawa and the kids in the end, but only because that story calls for it and not because his character was necessarily built up to it.

That talk Aizawa had with Aoyama is so obviously meant to be repeated later...to someone else.

"I feel the same as the kids". Blatant foreshadowing for Aizawa. Not to mention him thinking about Kurogiri RIGHT then and there when he is saying those things. It's almost like he knows this speech might apply to more than just Aoyama, at some point, somehow.

Look at all the adult characters who have relevance and impact on the plot: All Might, Endeavor, Aizawa, and Gran Torino. Out of those characters, the only one who has the same type of arc as the kids who will save the villains is Aizawa. ShiraGiri is his villain. It's pretty much the exact same type of set up.

He has to reconcile the current version of his villain with who they used to be. Midoriya sees the crying kid inside Shigaraki, so the next step is tying that kid to the person Shigaraki turned into, and helping those two parts of him reconcile--thus he is saved. Shouto knows Touya is his brother, and by god he is TRYING to view him as Touya, but he keeps treating him as Dabi. He's trying. Toga, same story. She was a normal teenager like Ochacko, experiences the same feelings as her. Ochacko has to accept Toga for who she is now by acknowledging who she used to be.

Aizawa---it's exactly the same. Accept ShiraGiri for who he is. Someone different, but still the person he knew in his childhood nonetheless.

Mic doesn't have that ingrained into his arc. He's kinda just there, and he's presenting the opposing ideals that are set up to eventually be shut down later. He sounds like Gran Torino--"death is better". We as readers know BNHA doesn't believe that. So his beliefs will be shut down later.

[princess-of-the-corner]

I am starting to believe the ask has a vendetta against me-

anyway, read a fic, have a new favourite AU:

Amnesia!Dabi

Dabi wakes up shortly after his “death” at a “clinic”(run by AfO, cause of course it is), only instead of being rage-hatred-patricide, he’s like, “The fuck are you? The fuck am I??” He manages to “check himself out” (legit, funniest option, no one expected him to be up and conscious, so he literally just LEAVES, no one finds out till way later he dipped) and spends the next however long trying to piece together who he is. He’s got, like, full binders and notebooks full of theories and leads to check up on, including one with everything he knows about himself, such as:

- fire Quirk

-Fire Quirk hurts me?

- Male

- Like spicy food

-don’t like forests? I think??

-Don’t like my hair white?

-dyed it red BAD IDEA?? Made me want to punch a wall???

-dyed it black, no reaction

-tried soba, it was amazing, I started CRYING, WTF??

-etc

AfO probably decides “eh, not important”, and leaves him be (and also probably gets a kick out of the fact that Dabi is, like, 2 hours away from the Todoroki residence). Anyway, eventually, Dabi still joins the LoV, cause, like, he’s sort of running out of options - not having any documentation makes it hard to get a job, he has a HARD MISTRUST of heroes he can’t really explain, and at this point he’s fairly certain he was a government experiment, so that’s right out.

And like, he’s kind of on board for a few chunks, but Toga is awakening The Big Brother Instincts, so that’s creating problems. Then they kidnap Katsuki, and Dabi is “huh, nah fam, not cool with threatening children, actually”, and helps Kat escape. Drags Toga along, cause at this point she’s his kid. Meets Shouto properly, has the weirdest reaction, thinks “maybe I know him??” So, goes to U.A., like, “Hey, I have severe memory loss, but I think I know the Peppermint kid? I helped save one of your students, can that earn me the bare minimum of human decency for help? Also, can you please help Toga, she needs SO MUCH BLOOD, I think the lack is making her sick. Huh? The staples? Yeah, I don’t get it either man, that doctor was insane.”

Then Natsuo shows up for some reason and is immediately “WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK TOUYA!?” Dabi, confused “Do I know you?? Wait, am I Touya??”

Original fic that inspired this plot bunny: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28113402/chapters/68882268

-

AHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHA

Honestly this would be the funniest fucking option because like.

With amnesia? Dabi is pretty useless to AfO. Like sure AfO could /tell/ him ‘oh yeah your dad is a Hero but he’s An Asshole™’ but the kid wouldn’t have any sort of rage behind it to really manipulate him into villainy. Like sure he’d be upset but he wouldn’t be so rage blind that he’d ignore that AfO is /very obviously far worse/ 

and like. Sure. AfO could pull a Shigaraki 2.0 of ‘hey I kidnapped and brainwashed a Hero’s family member into working for me’. But that really doesn’t hit as hard the second time does it?

[victorsandvanquishers]

This Ship Will Carry Our Bodies Safe to Shore - Chapter 11

Fandom: Hikaru no Go

Ships: eventual Hikaru/Sai, Waya/OC, Touya/OC, Ogata/His Girlfriend-from-the-manga-turned-wife, Akari/OC, Mitani/OC

Rating: T+

Warnings: the sadz

Summary: At thirty-four, Hikaru Shindo lives a good life, despite living with the memories of a haunting he can never speak up about. Across the country, Fujiwara no Sai does much of the same, except his ghosts are  memories of a world long gone, and a time period that now only exists in  history  books and fantasy manga. Perhaps that's why they're destined to meet  again - because both refuse to forget what's now in the past. Alternatively, Hikaru finds a living, breathing Sai who remembers nothing about  haunting him or Shuusaku over his thousand-year existence  as a ghost, but everything about his eighteen years on Earth, and the world and life he left behind when he committed suicide. [Post-canon, real time]

Chapter Summary: Could the living haunt the living? Hikaru thought so.

~

And that's a wrap, folks! Thank you for sticking with this book. I had a wonderful time drafting, writing, and rewriting this over the course of many, many years lmao. I appreciate all of the thoughtful reviews you've all left. It makes me feel like Hikago fandom is still alive and thriving. Y'all the real ones!

And now, at last, this book goes on hiatus. A lotta fun things going on in my life right now, including possibly losing my job because of first world problems (corporate layoffs). I bet Hikaru never has to deal with that 😭 Regardless, writing this story was a great pastime for me, even through the great, rocky road of life. No worries, I DO plan to finish writing and publishing this, but it will take some time, as these things always do. Thank you so much for reading. Promise that the chapter titles will stop being lyrics ripped from 'Little Talks' post-hiatus. There are other songs I plan to butcher LOL!

Until next time, don't forget to leave a review, my friends! (~˘▾˘)~

[willowser]

also thinking about rei hugging or just being so sweet and soft towards oc cuz this is the friend touya made!!this is the girl he likes and rei treating oc like so kind and oc getting emo from the softness like omg DHAKAJJXKAKSJDIJZSNS FERALSCREECHING MORE

friend, i am here with the promise that more is said on this particular subject in the next chapter 😌✨️🪻 but !! in the mean time, i will give you this !!

she almost doesn't hear fuyumi.

too wrapped up in the still lingering warmth of the shirt in her hands, the end of her pinky fiddling with a hole he's already worn into the sleeve; it's touya's, and when she brings the material to her face, she can only smell the fresh detergent, the sweetness of their fabric softner — but that is his scent, these days.

safe in her home, where he belongs.

the words settle eventually, and she looks up to find her daughter frowning; cheeks round and girlish. "who was it?"

"i don't know," fuyumi grumbles, tossing a pair of socks into a pile she'll most certainly dump at natsuo's door. "some random girl off the street that was — all bossy."

the image that comes to mind has rei stifling a light laugh, made of memories; fuyumi in the kitchen with her hip cocked out, hair still wet from her shower, demanding touya finish eating so they could play before enji arrived home. the pout on her lips is identical, as well as the furrow of her brow. still too young, still in charge.

"mom," fuyumi murmurs, but now her face drops with a familiar sadness, one that ages her immediately. she looks hesitant to speak, as if she's asking for an answer she knows she isn't ready for. "do you think he still talks to those people? from before?"

rei doesn't know — but she thinks touya might.

instead of answering, she brings the shirt back to her face, as if she were hugging him instead of it. warm against her cheek, cozy; it hugs his thin frame nicely, rei thinks, and highlights the still-there softness of his marred face.

it's a long-sleeve, and that must be why he likes it; touya often complains of being too cold now, though it's difficult to find something that doesn't irritate his skin. this is a piece he'll wear for days in a row, if they let him, like he tends to do with any clothing he deems comfortable.

rei fiddles with the hole again and thinks of him, young and afraid. who dressed him then, when he was alone? who made sure he was warm enough?

"i don't know how to let them go," is what he'd told her, one night in the pitch-black of his room. with his head in her lap and his face turned inward, quiet and clinging to her, like always. "i just—have to now."

she doesn't know much about them, aside from the hell they reigned down upon japan — but they must have been like touya was, in the past; small and afraid and wanting.

"they were you're family once, too, right?" she'd asked, running a slow hand through his hair when he grunted quietly. "it's not going to be easy, but that's okay. we'll figure it out."

"i don't know if he does," rei tells her daughter now, lining up the ends of touya's shirt carefully. "is that where you think this girl is from?"

at the mere mention, fuyumi frowns again, even rolls her eyes; a little sister through and through. "i don't know. she didn't—seem to know him all that well, and she was hanging around dr. matsui's office—"

"so, maybe from there, then?" rei smiles genuinely, hoping to lessen the worry in her daughter's voice. "a friend he's made?"

fuyumi finally concedes with a shrug, grabbing another shirt from the basket sitting between them. it's black, too small to be natsuo's, and the thread near the collar is fraying, like it's been caught on something too many times. she, too, lets the residual warmth soak into her hands and then carefully matches up the edges, before placing it gently in the stack of clothes in her lap.

[moriihana]

we can’t fix each other but we sure as hell can enable each other instead || eighteen: desolation

pairing: dabi x disabled!gn!reader

overview: you meet dabi pre-canon because your cat, nugget, literally won’t leave the guy alone. friendship, fluff and (eventual) angst ensue.

chapter summary: you deal with emotions and dabi has to seek you out.

content: angst with fluff ig

word count: 1135

a/n: sorry this took so long to get out, last month marked the one year anniversary of me getting kicked out so i've been havin' a rough go of it ^^;

taglist: @iincandescenttt

AO3 link

← previous ; next →

You looked out at the destruction Shigaraki had wrought from where you sat atop a building, your legs dangling off the side and a frown on your face. The unmistakable sound of Dabi’s footsteps caught your attention. 

“Hey mouse. You’re awfully close to the edge there. What’re ya doin’ up here all alone?”

You glanced over your shoulder at him before turning your gaze back to the desolation. “Hi, Touya. I’m just thinking. What’s up?”

“You’ve been avoiding me.” Dabi sat next to you, frustration evident in his voice. “Fess up.”

“I haven’t been avoiding just you, pretty boy—I’ve been avoiding everyone.” When he clicked his tongue in disapproval, you sighed, “I’m… tired, Touya. I miss Twice, and Mister. Himiko hasn’t been the same, either. And Shigaraki…” Your voice took on a dark tone, a snarl lurking at the edges of it. “I knew he shouldn’t have gone through with the procedure. That bastard’s trying to steal his body. His expiration date passed lifetimes ago, and now he’s just trying to cheat death. He’s scared of not being in control.

“Is it worth it, Touya? Losing our friends? Possibly our lives and our freedom if we fail? Every time I stop to think for too long, I see Twice’s body and the life leaving his eyes. I think about how I couldn’t save him. What if Himiko’s next? Or you? What if you’re next, Touya?” Your voice wavered, breaking at the end. “I can’t lose you. I can’t.”

Dabi pulled you into his side, pressing an uncharacteristically gentle kiss to the crown of your head. “Twice’s death hit Toga hard, but the kid’ll be fine. She’s a big girl. As for me… I promised you I wasn’t goin’ anywhere, doll,” he said quietly. “I’ll crawl out of my goddamn grave if I have to—I ain’t leavin’ ya here alone.”

Your bottom lip trembled and you bit back a sob. “I’m scared, Touya. For the first time, I have people outside of you, Nugget and Boo that I care about—I’m scared the heroes are gonna rip it away from me,” you warbled. “Or me away from it.”

“I won’t let that happen. I made a you promise, doll, and I’m not one to break promises.”

You sniffled, burying yourself further into Dabi’s side. “I know,” you whispered. “But things don’t always go our way.”

With a deep sigh, Dabi shifted look at your face, ignoring your whine of protest as he lifted your chin to make eye contact. “Doll, there’s no use in worrying about that right now. I don’t know why all that’s botherin’ you so much all of the sudden, but shit’s goin’ our way for now, so enjoy it while it lasts, yeah?”

You pouted, but mumbled a quiet ‘got it’ anyways. “What’s so funny?” You huffed when he chuckled affectionately. He gave you a quick kiss to your forehead.

“You’re cute when you pout.”

“Oh, fuck off.” You punched him lightly in the chest, though you had a small smile on your face. “Asshole.”

“There we go.” Dabi brushed his thumb across your bottom lip. “As adorable as you are when you pout, I wanted to see ya smile.”

You narrowed your eyes and bit his thumb playfully. “Disgusting. Can’t believe you’re being affectionate, pretty boy. Gross. Get that outta here, you’ll make me sick.”

He rolled his eyes, flicking your forehead. “Alright, alright. Glad to see you’re back to normal. Seeing you all mopey and shit’s depressin’ as hell.”

You snorted, shaking your head. “Yeah, whatever. Was there anything else you needed, or were you just being a grump over not having my undivided attention?”

“Ah, right—Toga’s also been mopey and shit. It’s annoying. Cheer her up.”

“What makes you think I can cheer her up?”

“The kid loves you.” Dabi shrugged. “If anyone can make her get over her feelings or whatever, outside of those hero brats, it’s you.”

You hummed. “...yeah, alright. You know where she is?” You moved away from Dabi and grabbed your cane, hauling yourself off the concrete floor—or roof, technically—with a grunt. You adjusted your knee brace and brushed off your pants, then held out a hand to help Dabi up. He took it, pulling himself up.

“I have a hunch. Not too far from here, follow me.” 

You cracked your neck and trailed after him, your free hand shoved in your pocket. “How’d you know where I was?” You asked as you two walked, curious.

“Asked All For One to look for you,” Dabi drawled. “Didn’t actually expect him to cooperate, considering how much shit ya give the dude.”

“Maybe if he weren’t a creep and absolute garbage, I wouldn’t give him shit,” you grumbled, scowling. “I hate the guy.”

Dabi snorted, “We’re all well aware of that.”

You fell silent, a weariness settling deep in your bones—or maybe it was just the stiffness from the cold and sitting on a hard concrete roof. You looked around as you passed through devastation with Dabi, listening for the sounds of possible danger. Shadows of fleeing civilians moved in the corners of your eyes as they recognised who you both were. As you walked through a slightly less destroyed and slightly more populated area, you caught the sound of multiple footsteps crunching on debris. You paused when you noticed the footsteps were growing closer and reached out, your fingers curling around the back of Dabi’s coat. “Touya,” you murmured, standing stock-still. “Trouble.”

Stopping when he felt you tug on his coat, Dabi let out a dry chuckle when you let him know people were approaching. “We both know nobody stands a chance against my flames.”

“Of course I know that, pretty boy, but we both also know that support items have been made widely available. We don’t know what they might have,” you hissed, tightening your grip. “Just be on guard.”

“I always am,” Dabi scoffed.

You nodded and released his coat, moving your hand to your thigh to pull your knife out of its sheath. You kept a secure hold on it as you resumed walking, hyper-aware of the crunching behind you. About ten minutes passed before the footsteps sped up and someone called out to you and Dabi aggressively.

“Hey! You two aren’t welcome here!” 

With a sigh, you turned around to face the three people who approached. You took note of the weapons that two of them held, satisfaction glinting in your eyes as you watched fear wash over them. “We’re just passing through,” you said lightly. “You shouldn’t have troubled us.”

“Tch.” Dabi clicked his tongue and incinerated the three—they didn’t even have time to scream.

You rolled your eyes, but put your knife back. “Well, that’s dealt with. Can’t believe they didn’t recognise us beforehand…” you snorted. “Alright then, let’s go find Himiko.”

[ja0-s-blank-canvas-fic]

Part 3 - Chapter 29 - Third Degree

Blank Canvas Part 3

AO3 - here

Fanfiction.net - here

Alrighty! We are back on track. ^___^ I'm super excited to share this week's update. It's finally Dabi meets Izuku time!!! :D Hope you're ready for some big bro Dabi feels. ;) It's gonna be so much fun.

Oh, if you want a reminder of the BC version of the Todoroki family history, easiest would be Rei's pov from the first two chapters of part 2.

Linktree to all the things!    

End notes for the chapter are under the line.  

Finally Dabi and Izuku are good. Ugh, it was hurting me having to write him as upset with our favorite green bean. He's on your side, you burnt raisin! Not sure how this will impact future parts yet but I've got some ideas. Though that is far into the future so no need to worry about that yet.

For Izuku figuring it out so quickly, Shouto told him a little about his brother in chapter 20 of this part. And Izuku is a smarty and I thought the roots comment was funny. :P I dye my hair myself and roots always peek through eventually.

If Izuku switching calling Chizome by his name or by Stain, I have a reason for it. Because while Chizome and Stain are the same person, Izuku understands that Chizome sees them as to separate identifies. So he's done some things with the intentions of Stain and others as Chizome. I dunno. It's just how my brain worked it out.

I know people are looking forward to a big Aldera take down. I would like to do something but I'm still figuring out what exactly and how. As for when at least reserved for after part 3 ends. Too much for this part to cover and I think it would pair nicely with Endeavor getting some consequences. But again, still figuring things out. If anything, please don't except a super detailed thing? I guess? :3 I will try my best though as I always do.

I had a little fun with the whole Inko thing. It was just a random brainstorm I had and decided to use it. Doesn't really affect anything plot wise other than giving Touya more of a reason for documenting things at such a young age.

He's got the knife back! :D I can't have him losing something so precious. Or can I? >:) Kekeke. We'll see. Also Dabi is already shipping Izuku with his bro. And now he is more of an ally than before! Still figuring out how exactly going forward but Dabi is at least on Izuku's side in a way.

Okay! Now we're back on track. Next up is a peek into the Hero side with focus on the Yamazawa family. Then back to Izuku who wakes up to a surprise visitor. Who could it be? We'll find out next time! :D See ya!

Count down to Dad For One reveal: 4 chapters