Part 7
"I want an answer..." She turned her voice, for the first time letting the male know that the usual carefree and slightly shy girl was reaching her end.
"And what exactly are you wanting to get out of me?" He questioned her, raising a brow as her own gaze broke from his.
"The memory that's stuck in my head... it was faceless until a few days ago... and so... I want to know if the people who I believe are in your memory are correct. And if you so much as lie to me, I'll press this button right here and my entire agency will flock here before you can even spark your flames..."
Dabi narrowed his gaze, a slight flip occurring in his stomach as he thought of what exactly would come next. But then again... he was sure he knew. That was the reason he was here right now after all... because he wanted to see if she knew.
"Spit it out then... and preferably before one of your nosy neighbors notices the both of us talking..."
Fuyu nodded slowly, sucking in a breath and then allowed the words that had been trapped in her mind for days now finally out into the open.
"Todoroki Enji... you're one of his children, aren't you?"
The air was chilled, so much so that the hairs on her arms were standing up. Her arms raising and falling in an attempt to wipe away the cold as if it were droplets of water. She had never expected the temperature outside to get even colder, but after her words had been said aloud, it did just that.
The idea that this male had already been warming up the area as if he had been preparing himself for a fight was one reason for her to feel nervous around him. But now seeing as he had dropped it, no longer looking to want to fight or even raise a hand to push her away while he made his escape from this question and her... made the young hero start to think that maybe... maybe she had even startled him into such a shock that he put his own guard down.
It was silent afterward, neither speaking to the other... Fuyu not knowing what else to say that would make her point or question more clear. Dabi in the meantime only seemed to be interested in staring at his hand. His fist closing clenching together until his grip was tight enough to even cause himself some strain.
"Why do you ask?" He finally spoke.
His voice didn't betray him like Fuyu had been hoping. His voice sounding as if he could either actually be the child of the current number one hero, or that he was merely leading her on. She couldn't be sure, but maybe if she could at least keep him talking for a little bit more... she'd be able to figure it out.
"I ask because of the memory inside of my head... one you seemed so keen on getting back a while ago. Enough to go to the lengths to try and force the information out of me."
She gently touched her neck, the burn marks on them now more like scars. Ones she hoped would fade away as the natural process of healing continued. But ones that also reminded her of the reckless nature of the male in front of her.
She had to stay focused... if she allowed him to get the upper hand for even a minute... she was as good as dead.
"That memory in your head... what is it?" He voiced a question of his own.
After all, he'd much rather see what exactly she might be guessing or have seen from his own path that would lead the hero that had once been a tad bit shy and nervous to suddenly buckle up and confront him about his own past and true name head on.
He had assumed he'd threaten her a bit more tonight and find out exactly what she had said to that bird and the walking pile of hot garbage... but now, the night had taken an unknown turn and he was facing a situation he had been hoping would not have occurred unless it was under his own rules.
But like most occurrences in his life... it turns out he was not as lucky.
"The memory in my head is of a small boy. One with red as hot as fire and eyes as blue as the ocean. He was being trained too hard for his age... so harshly that he ended up burning himself. He accidentally created a nasty scar on his body. One that strangely looks a lot like the one you have on your own arm.
There was a man over him... an older man with facial hair made out of fire. He kept scolding the child and calling him things no parent should ever say to a child. It was harsh and cruel... and I've been subjected to it non-stop since you gave me your memory. It's played over and over in my head. It's so engraved into my head now, that even if you and I did manage to give it back to you... I doubt I'd even be able to sleep peacefully again. That's how disturbing it is to me."
Dabi let out a long breath after he heard this. He nodded slowly, lips moving into a deep frown and eyes turning so cold that Fuyu could have sworn the air was now warm. The look in his eyes making even the near winter weather seem much more comfortable than his own hues.
"Let me guess how it goes..." He spoke, lips twitching as they moved. "Word... for word."
Fuyu could do nothing but nod, a part of her now curious. And a part of her not wanting to know. Just from his body language alone... she knew that the male was going to drop something heavy on her.
And after everything she had been through as of late, she was unsure she'd be able to take it... but it was too late now. Dabi had started speaking... and she couldn't help but listen with every single ounce of attention she had.
"The memory you took from me, whether by accident or on purpose we can argue about later, I'm afraid is not a single occurrence. That young boy with red hair on his knees as tears rolled down his face was me. The small child begging through his broken voice for it all to stop, how he was hurting... was me when I wasn't even seven years old. And always above me would be my old man... that damn death glare, sinking into my sink every time I even tried to ask him to stop... that it hurt, that I couldn't do it csuse the flames were too much."
He sighed, running a hand through his hair as more memories and images of that familiar scene played out in his head. Each time with different words and tears, but always ending with the same outcome.
"He always thought that pushing me that far would finally get me to toughen up... that I simply had inherited my mother's 'weak drive and heart'. He never once considered that maybe... even was pushing a child who was barely able to write his own name to the breaking point. Both mentally and physically. My father always took things a step closer then he needed. Sometimes he'd attack me and burn me, other times he'd tell me not to stop my flames until the pain of the burns actually made me pass out."
He gritted his teeth, eyes turning into a look of pure hatred. Hands starting to shake as the memories came back, a burning smell and sparks of blue appearing on his hands with the anger in his eyes to match.
"My mother couldn't stand the sounds of my screaming... and she'd beg that rotten old man to stop. He didn't care, would give her a good slap or two and she'd sulk out... too afraid to stop him for fear of what else he could do. Knowing my mother was in just as much pain as myself made it worse, and the fire would get more powerful the more emotionally distraught I was.
So I tried to actually hone my skills, thinking if I could get strong enough to defeat him or at least put up some sort of a good fight... then mom and I could escape. So I actually trained with him, putting up with every little piece of bullshit he threw my way... and soon enough, the burning stopped. I had become numb to it.
My father was still leagues better than me, I knew that much. But I kept telling myself I'd keep trying until I was good enough to finally take him down. Even now, I haven't let that goal go. And for a while, knowing he was unaware of my intentions kept me going back for more 'lessons' But... then my sister got her quirk. And his attention turned from me to her."
He sighed, seeming to calm for a moment while he thought of his sister. But once more, the hatred buried deep within his heart was sprung free again. His time enough to let little blue embers begin to go through the air.
The blue color fading to red and then orange as the cool air had its effects on the embers. Fuyu's eyes watching as a single ember danced by her form until finding its resting place near her shoes. The light fading completely as she watched it.
"She was lucky... born with an ice quirk and no signs of fire. So... he ended up getting rid of her right away. The same happened with my younger brother. Both of them having been spared from the cruel fate I had been forced into. The quirks they inherited from our mother either deemed too weak or not nearly as good as he had been hoping for.
"Rise to your feet." That's always what he would demand when I couldn't stand any longer, his voice was always deadly and frustrated. "No child of mine should be this weak."
So imagine my surprise when I heard him saying this exact thing to my youngest brother. I felt bad for him for a while... but then when I actually saw how much harder my mother tried to protect him from our father... it was really frustrating.
I cried just as hard, was beaten just as much... and yet, my youngest brother was the one to get all of her attention. Her love, affection, and protection... and in the meanwhile wasn't doing any better. The lack of training showing as more burns started to show up on my body.
All the times I cried harder then I thought I could, shaking my head and mumbling incoherent things between the tears when I was sure I had lost it. The shaking of his head when he saw me doing this... muttering about how he did not like how his own flesh and blood was such a coward.
"What kind of hero can you be, Touya if you can't even be a good son?"
Dabi breathed out a low breath, the ghost-like air that left his lips after this statement. His real name felt foreign on his tongue and the male assuming that it really truly had been a while since even he had said what his name was.
But he knew he needed to continue on. The end of this sad little tale was in sight after all... and soon enough he'd be able to finish it. His nerves from the mere recollection of these memories were enough for the male to have to fight back every urge to burn the world around him to a crisp.
But he wouldn't today... not when he knew that the police were especially on high alert as of late to catch him and anyone else he associated himself with. So he pushed the anger down, knowing he could release it soon enough... the League's next plans already having been formed and now waiting the day to carry them out.
Still looking upwards towards the unreachable heavens, Dabi said the last words that were still holding onto his tongue. The ones he had always known himself, but never muttered aloud, let alone to another person until this moment.
"So... I did neither. I stopped trying to make that pile of human shit proud of me... and I became the thing he would despise the most. And one day... I'll be sure to be the one to ruin everything he's worked for.
Because after what he did to me... to my mother... to everyone.... Endeavor deserves nothing but to be a reminder of how vile heroes and this society we live in can be."
He took in a breath after that small speech of his, wandering towards the female. She had yet to move from where she had been standing by the light pole this entire time. Even her eyes seemed to be fixed in one place, this place is the ground by her feet.
He couldn't blame her not knowing what to say or even how to react to it all. Even he still struggled to find the right way to handle his memories and the lingering effects of his childhood. But, the memory she had was not an isolated case, in fact, the tale was one of many that made up his childhood and who he eventually became and what he worked for. And as such, he confirmed himself in the next moment.
"If that's not the exact recounting you were looking for, then I'm sorry. There are so many similar events buried in my head that it's hard to keep track of what one you exactly took. But seeing as it might be from the time my skin was first burned beyond repair... then it must be pretty violent"
He chuckled a laugh devoid of all humor, tossing his head backward and letting his hot neck rest against the ice cold wood from the bench. It was strange... he felt light, but he also felt empty. These memories always leaving him as such, but now having said them aloud, he couldn't help the puff of airiness that made him feel just the smallest amount lighter.
"But... since you have been quiet about this, I suppose I'll confirm your suspicions. After all, not like anyone would really believe you anyway. You're not even second or third rate when it comes to heroes... so more people will assume you're trying to get attention then actually revealing what the truth is."
He didn't wait for her to speak again, nor did he give her widening eyes any sort of attention as his own looked up at the stars above him.
"My real name is Todoroki Touya. I'm the eldest of the four children my father Todoroki Enji, otherwise known as the current number one pro-hero Endeavor forced my mother Rei to have.
I was blessed with a fire quirk much stronger then that piece of shit had... but the catch was that I had inherited my mother's fragile skin. And since my mother has always been weak against the heat, so was I.
These burns... come from me using my quirk. The blue flames cause them, but at this point, seeing as my body had been scarred beyond repair before Dabi even came to be... I really don't care about it any longer."
He turned his blazing gaze of blue to Fuyu, a wicked smile on his lips as he continued to speak to her.
"So yeah... you're correct. I'm his son... and I'm a villain. Congrats on your detective skills, small-time hero."
Fuyu sucked in a harsh breath, trying to not let this all overcome her. She had guessed it, had her suspicions to it... but now that it had been confirmed? She wasn't sure what to do now. And from how the emergency button in her hand was quivering as she allowed the knowledge to sink in more and more... she wanted nothing more than to scream. While she knew what the answer was before coming here... she definitely did not want it to be this.
How could the son of a hero... a top pro at that... turn into a villain?
She scolded herself after the thought passed by. Her own history and family life being on the opposite side of the coin. Her father was a villain, and she had ended up becoming a hero. The mistakes and abuse of her father... making her want nothing to do with the man.
And strangely enough... she felt as if she knew Dabi was the same way. Rejecting the man who made his life so hard, still caring greatly for his mother, and also trying to flaunt who he was now to his father... it sounded nearly the same as her.
Yet another thing to add to the list of things that made her uncomfortable when she was near this villainous male.
It was at this moment, as his story ended that the words of her mother came back to her. The sounds of the older woman recollecting on a period in her life that had at one point made sense to her... now seeming to become something else.
"Your father..." Her mother had begun. "He... he never told me why he did them... but from how he always acted after it happened, and how that look always seemed to be plastered onto his face- he was proud of himself.
How someone could be proud of hurting others and making so many people's lives miserable... I can't tell you... but he was! He was the damn proudest about when he did something a normal person would see as wrong. But in this head... the idea of knowing he could do anything and nearly everything with little to no consequences... was enough for him."
Fuyu sucked in a breath, catching orbs of blue gazing at her as she tried to focus her thoughts. He appeared to be waiting for her response as well... not sure if he should even speak up anymore.
She couldn't just accept this way of thinking anymore though... not after hearing the tale he wove. And while she was still trying to decide if she actually believed it or not... she did know that her own thinking and morals had been skewed. She had assumed that every villain was like her father... acting only to cause pain because he enjoyed it.
But after hearing Dabi... she realized that maybe, much like heroes, villains had a different reason for why they took up the role they did. And that she... had been small-minded and short-sighted over it all.
Dabi knew what was to come... after all, the story he had just told had two possible outcomes: denial or anger. Either the female resting on the light post would call him a liar, or she'd try and tell the man he had confirmed with one hundred percent truthfulness that was his father... what his eldest son was currently up to.
Fuyu's lips quivered, eyes closing and her head quickly turning to the side. Dabi watched with tired eyes, starting to feel the chills make its way up his arms now.
"Why are you telling me?" Fuyu spoke, voice soft like a whisper.
Dabi rolled his shoulders, attempting to get comfortable on the wooden bench he had been resting upon. His head leaning backward as he thought over the many different answers he could give the dark haired woman.
A snarky answer, an ominous one, a truthful one, one that wasn't an answer at all. But despite it, despite how he should feel more cautious around her, as she so clearly felt around him... the male couldn't do anything but simply sigh and turn his gaze towards the woman watching him.
"You asked." Was all that left his lips.
His eyes of blue ocean blue closing a moment later, blocking out the world despite how it continued to pound away at his ears. Fuyu's sigh reaching his ears, making him know that their conversation was soon to come to an end.
And while he knew that he'd have to for sure dispose of her now, seeing as his most guarded secret would be out, part of him did indeed feel some sort of relief. Like... a weight had come off his shoulders now that at least someone else knew of who he was.
Not his father. Not his mother. Not his sister or two brothers.
But this small, weak, petite little hero who had absolutely no business knowing. A hero who clearly only found out simply because as of late... with the face of his abuser and his rising favorability... Dabi couldn't help but feel overcome with the usual anger towards that coward of a man.
And through some way he assumed was rational, he vented to her. But... he knew what was to come. She would try to get him to come to the police station with her, so they could file a proper report. The accusations of a hero so big were one thing, but coming from someone who claimed to be his son was another.
No doubt, whether Fuyu meant it or not... he would be arrested and locked up. And so... with enough energy rising slowly, he was sure the female would not notice his attack until it was too late. Heroes were all the same, and he would not allow his ears to become wet with the hopes he used to have towards them all.
Fuyu cleared her throat, Dabi waiting patiently to hear her speak the words he knew were to come, to have a reason to tell the League why he killed a hero tonight. This was how things were meant to be after all- heroes and villains were always meant to see the others as nothing more than their actions and not their reasons behind it.
"Touya... would you like some tea?" Her voice was smooth, soft.
Dabi's form nearly jumping as his gaze was on her once more. Hues of blue wide, before he attempted to hide the momentary shock that had been on his features. Now that was unexpected, the offer and the name she decided to use.
The sound of his own name... having not been used for much longer than he even knew about. Having gone by nothing until Dabi came into existence... it felt almost like Touya had been left behind the moment he had left that home all that time ago.
"Come on." Fuyu motioned back towards her apartment, a calmness suddenly on her lips and words. "It's freezing out here. I'm sure even someone with a fire quirk gets cold."
He didn't speak a word after that, simply getting up from his seat on the bench and following after the girl. His hood rising above his head and covering his features before he could really understand why he did it.
Maybe it was because he didn't want any of this hero's noisy neighbors to notice him... or maybe it was because he didn't want her to get in trouble for being seen with him in such a calm and friendly way. But, that would mean he too wanted to indulge in a calm and friendly chat with her.
And as things currently stood... Dabi wasn't sure exactly what he expected from the tea tonight, or why he had decided to even take up her offer. But he did know one thing... and it was that he was cold. After all, from all the recollecting he had done tonight out in that brisk cold... his hands were shaking.
Something he at least hoped was from the cold, and not what was repressed underneath the surface.