How Can I Make it Okay? - A BakuDeku Story

Retrospect

Dabi sat in the most secluded booth he could find in the soba restaurant his brother visited once a week. He didn't know a lot about Shoto, but he'd heard his brother Natsuo yelling at Endeavor that he didn't even know his brother loved cold soba. So he staked out ever restaurant for weeks until he saw him one day, sitting in a booth at the back of a restaurant alone with two bowls of cold soba.

He waited for a while, then sighed with relief as he saw Shoto walk in. He was worried that with Midoriya's return, he wouldn't show up. But he also hoped that his brother would find comfort from the madness in food, and he was right. He smiled to himself at the idea that he hadn't fully lost touch with his old self. He watched as his brother scanned, looking for a booth, and Dabi pulled his hood bad just enough so his brother could spot him. When his eyes landed on him, he saw anger in them, then something else. He held a breath, hoping Shoto didn't run and found himself releasing it as he saw him tell the waitress where he would be sitting. Dabi pulled the hood back where it was, before anyone else recognized him.

"You stalking me now Dabi?" Shoto slid into the booth.

"I want to say no," Dabi admitted. "But when I heard Natsuo say your favorite food was cold soba, I sort of staked out every soba place near UA until you showed up here."

"That's weird," Shoto said. "And a little stalkerish."

The waitress came over and Dabi held his head down. Shoto ordered three bowls and the lady left them alone once again.

"Hows Midoriya?" Dabi asked.

He watched his brother flinch.

"How the fuck do you know about Midoriya?"

"Huh," Dabi said, watching his brother flare up. "So, the angry blonde isn't the only one with a thing for the green kid."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing," Dabi decided.

"Why are you here?"

"I-I just...," Dabi started. "I wanted to apologize."

"For trying to kill dad?" Shoto asked. "Quite frankly, I don't really care about that, although you did almost kill me two years ago too."

"That was mostly for show," Dabi answered. "Had to make the league think I hated all of you.

Shoto stared at his brother then. Dabi couldn't figure out what he was thinking, and he blamed the lack of emotion on the kids face on both his parents. The two had fucked up so bad that the kid had no social skills and a distinct inability to read a room or communicate like a normal person.

"So... you don't hate ... me?"

"No," Dabi answered. "When I left, I was angry at... Endeavor and mom. But I hoped me leaving would be a wakeup call. I hoped he would realize that if he kept up with his abuse, he'd lose another son. I guess I didn't mean enough to him for that. But, I didn't expect him to take it out on you. When I first saw you on tv, with the burn on your face. I knew, I just knew. And I wanted to reach through the screen and hug you but more than anything, I wanted to beat the shit out of that bastard. And then you couldn't even use your fire, as if you were terrified of it, as if he had scared it out of you and... I hated him more than ever. So I decided I would work on something, anything, to get revenge. You thought I hated you?"

"So you told the world and put us in the spotlight," Shoto said.

"A small price to pay," Dabi answered. "But.. you thought I hated you?"

"I... yeah," Shoto whispered. "You tried to kill me every time you saw me, and then I found out you were my brother. What sort of message does that send?"