"It's You"; DabiHawks

Chapter 11; Touya

*Dabi POV*

What am I doing, what am I thinking?

I'm not going to tell him anything, not anything more than I want him to know. I did let it slip that I had been here when I was a kid, but I don't think he noticed. I just wanted him to know. Nothing about me, no, I just wanted him to know the truth of who Endeavor is.

I grabbed the box that the man had given me. Inside I had kept some very personal belongings. There were some old piercings that I would sometimes melt together to try and make something. Mostly I did that the first couple days after I had "died." Those were the days where I didn't leave this place at all.

Other than the piercings, there were some pictures. I missed them, but when I left this place for what I thought was the last time, I knew I couldn't take them. It would be too risky. One was a picture of me and my siblings, well, the oldest two. Shoto was never allowed near us. My favorite picture was the family picture. I had scribbled out myself and Endeavor, but other than that, it was perfect. I wish that I didn't leave it when I burned the shack down.

I pulled out a different picture, the only one with Shoto that I had. It was Shoto's birthday and Endeavor wasn't home, so I saw too it that he would have the best day ever. The picture was of me and him on his sixth birthday, I was thirteen at the time. It was the last picture taken of me before I had run away.

I got a little closer to Hawks, his golden eyes examining every move I made. Turning the picture so he could see it, I pointed to myself.

"This was my best friend, he was one of Endeavor's children. He told me that he did horrible things to him and his siblings, mostly to himself and his youngest brother. He trained them up since they had gotten their quirks to become number one. He would beat them until they were forced to use their quirks." I said. None of it was a lie, only the fact that I had called Touya my friend was made up. I spoke steadily so that Hawks wouldn't expect anything.

"I had met him after he had run away. After knowing eachother for years he told me that he just couldn't take it. You probably saw it on the news or something. He killed himself with his own flames." I ended. I had the whole story planed out in case anyone tried figuring it out.

I saw a quick flash of realization in his eyes that quickly was replaced with guilt. Did he figure me out or something? After a second or so, he started to look down at the floor.

"I'm so sorry I didn't save him." He whispered. He sounded regretful, but why?
"I was the one who had called in the fire to the police. If I had just grown a pair and went inside I might have been able to save him."

That was when it all clicked.

***

I lit myself on fire, sending agonizing pain all over my body. Especially where I had cut into my skin just minutes earlier. I didn't say anything, I was used to the pain. As soon as the roof caught, I set myself out and ran, heading straight to the fire escape.

That was until a little red feather came near me, causing a quick reaction from me. The feather was nothing but ash in a matter of seconds.

***

That little red feather. It shouldn't have been so engraved in my memory. Yet, I felt like I could remember it and picture it perfectly. As soon as I realized it, I felt a sort of bitter-sweet humor mixed in there.

"Hey, don't worry about it." I said, gently putting my hand on his shoulder. I didn't know why, but I just didn't want to see him upset like this. "The kid was too far gone. Even if you got him out, you would have saved him from the flames, not himself." Another few seconds of silence. Then Hawks turned his head slightly to look at me, staring right into my eyes.

"Dabi, the flames from that night was blue." Shit. "It seems pretty weird that two kids that look kinda alike and have the same quirk were childhood friends." Well fucking shit! "Is this just your roundabout way to tell me that you are Touya?" That was it.

Suddenly, as if a switch had been flipped, I shoved him away from me. He wasn't ready for it, he let down his guard. Falling down defenselessly, he was now sprawled out on the floor while I towered over him. Before I actually did anything, however, I looked up at his eyes.

Those golden eyes that didn't even look scared. They looked interested, he was intrigued. With one look, I could tell he wasn't here to hurt me, everything he had said was spoken from genuine curiosity.

"Get out." I said, stopping myself from doing anything I regretted. Looking back at me, he started to say something. I didn't want to hurt him, every fiber of my being wanting him far from where I was right this second. Away from this monster. If he stayed, I would hurt him. If I hurt him, I would be hurting myself.

I might have wanted to hurt him previously, but now I don't think I ever really wanted to. I wanted to keep him safe.

"I said, get out. Or is that too complicated for your bird brain to understand?" I spit, still staring down at him. When he still didn't move, I bent over and grabbed him by his hoodie easily picking him up. Pinning him against the wall, his eyes still didn't show any signs of panic. With my face just inches from his, I stared him down.

I didn't say another word, just let him down and then went to sit against the opposite wall. With the wall behind me, I felt safer. My legs were pulled up to my chest and my face was buried in my knees. I didn't want anyone to see me like this, only Toga ever saw me like this. Hawks was different. I felt safe around him, but also as if I needed to watch him closely or else he would do something against me, but now I didn't care.

Soon, I heard soft footsteps coming towards me. I didn't move. They came closer and closer before they stopped, right beside me. A shuffle, then I felt someone sit right beside me. I didn't care, I didn't care, I didn't...

"Hey, I, I'm sorry. Is it because I compared you to your friend? I should've been a bit more sensitive about it." Hawks had his arm wrapped around my shoulders. When he had first moved, I had stiffened. However, I did start to relax into the touch.

"No, just," I didn't know what I was supposed to say. No, it's because you are correct in that assumption, it's because I have been spending the last four years convincing everyone that Touya is dead and yet two people know that he isn't!

"Is it, that I'm right?" Normally I would think that he was saying it mockingly, like he knew that he was right and just wanted me to say it. But it didn't sound like it. I didn't trust my words, so I answered him with a single nod. Suddenly, I felt him nearly tackle me in a hug. I would've never thought that a pro hero would give me a hug, but I wasn't exactly focused on that right this second. I was more focused on the fact that he was hugging me.

And I hugged him back.

If my tear glands weren't burnt from that night years ago, I would probably be crying. Nasty, ugly tears falling down my face, but I couldn't. I just held onto Hawks, and everything felt okay.

"Hey, do you want to go down into my apartment and get something to drink?" He offered. I quickly thought over my choices and nodded. Worst comes to worse, I would die so why not.

***
H

i, how are y'all doing?

So I did it again and wrote way over my limit. However, if I keep on like this, I can get more chapters out. I really hope y'all enjoyed this chapter, I kept writing and rewriting parts to make it fit with where I want this to go.

Also, has anyone else ready the newest manga chapters?

Love you guys
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