Chapter Text
The high-security prison Tartarus stood alone among the Japanese Alps. A place meant for the most dangerous villains in the country; criminals with perilous quirks. It was a safety risk for civilians and heroes alike. One such villain was known as Dabi; a well-known member of the League of Villains. Three months had passed since Dabi had been caught.
The police force thought they would be able to get more information out of the man. But to no avail, Dabi was incredibly stubborn and it frustrated the guards to the extremes. No matter how they tried to formulate or twist a question; the few answers they managed to get out of the scarred villain stayed the same.
"What is your name?" An older guard asked, hands patiently folded at the front of the table in the investigation room.
"Dabi, but you know that already," Dabi quipped a smug air about him.
"How old are you?" The guard sighed and asked the next question.
"I'm old enough to be in here apparently...," The scarred-villain remarked.
"Where are you from?" The guard echoed. The same questions were asked until they would get an answer they could work with.
"The streets...," Dabi said with a shrug of his shoulders. Quirk suppressing cuffs gnawing against his wrists; just between healthy flesh and old darkened burns.
"Do you know why you are here Dabi?" The guard questioned.
"Well, I killed off some trash in that warehouse. Helped kidnap Bakugou Katsuki and attempted to make the brat become a villain. I Set High-End loose upon the city; a gift from Shigaraki. And nearly killed Endeavor The scarred-villain casually listed his crimes. He had caused a lot of property damage.
There was also the peculiar murders from the warehouse that was now a skeleton of its former purpose. Dabi quickly gained recognition with the League of Villains after that. Dabi's voice grew cold as the pro-hero Endeavor's name brought a vile lump to his throat. It had almost been a success; if only there had been a few minutes to spare, Endeavor would have been six-feet-under where he belonged. The guard had gotten used to the villain's tone when Endeavor was concerned. But the reason why Dabi had such strong hatred towards the number one hero Endeavor, was quite the mystery.
"And what about the murder of the pro-hero Snatch?" The guard inquired.
"No, that was...Mr Compress and me. It was an accident. At the time there was no time to hesitate." He bit out.
As the tension gathered in his shoulders a maniacal gleam was apparent in those blue eyes, as he answered this question. It had always bothered Dabi; it was something he had regretted.
"So you have said since you came here Dabi. Although, you have not made any indication as to why the murder of Snatch was not supposed to happen." The guard pointed out tiredly.
"Unlike the pretend heroes; Snatch was a true hero that shouldn't have died. It all happened so fast that he was already dead before I realised what was happening " Dabi explained matter-of-factly.
Two days a week he was brought in for questioning where they tried to get new information At the very least, they should have given him some credit for his loyalty to the league. He was not about to betray the people he'd come to consider as his semi-awkward family.
"I see, well then I guess it’s back to your cell for today," the older guard muttered. Seconds later two younger guards unlatched the cuffs from the table and led Dabi toward his cell. The quirk suppressing cuffs made him weaker than he'd like.
That’s not to say that he ever had been all that strong when he was younger either. He had, in fact, more often than not been sick a lot of the time. But now that he couldn't reach that fire of his, those hot blue flames; his body slowly but surely began to be more unyieldingly colder. Dabi just had to wait until he was locked back into his cell and he could let his indifference slip; where he could just lay down on his weirdly comfortable bed. Prison beds were not supposed to be comfortable. One time he had asked why? The guard had given him a shifty look and said it had been an order from someone high up in the system.
"Are you feeling alright there Dabi? Your eyes look a little glassy," the female guard on his left gently asked. She was surprisingly decent for a guard.
"I'm fine Tanaka. It just happens sometimes. Completely normal." Dabi reassured; it was not entirely a lie.
He was used to feeling like shit, but these guards usually had better things to do than concerning themselves with someone like him. A strange silence stretched between Tanaka and her colleague for the last steps toward his cell. Dabi decided to keep quiet. He did not feel like chatting, his head felt heavy and it was getting more difficult to see where he was walking. Just a few more doors, Dabi thought to himself. Reaching the assigned cell the second guard, an older woman reaching well into her fifties, started the procedure for opening the door. Dabi stepped into the cell and let Tanaka lengthen the stretch of chain connecting the cuffs. The older guard stepped outside waiting further down the hallway.
But Tanaka stayed and asked, "Is there anything you need Dabi?" For a moment he was tempted to shake his head so he could be left alone. He couldn't hold up the facade of being completely fine for much longer.
Blue eyes fell on the worn tips of his hair. Offending white, they had denied him to use any hair products since he was arrested. So, now, instead of his wildly black spiked up hair, was straight and wiry black that faded to white tips that framed his face. Still, no one would be able to realize his true identity with his scars, burns and crude stitches that were still there.
"Since you asked I wouldn't say no to some black hair dye," Dabi murmured.
Tanaka gave the scarred villain a nod, as she began to implement the security locks on the cell door. Leaving Dabi alone in the cell, the motion-sensitive light gave the cell a warm glow. Allowing Dabi to walk over to his bed by the wall, stumbling through the dark was something the scarred man would not have to worry about; not when he felt like shit. Dabi laid down on the mattress, tremours slipped down his body and he felt cold. This was not the first time he had gone through this. But now? It was because his fire quirk was subdued. He was without his blue flames the only thing that could thaw the slowly encroaching chill from the inside. He would eventually freeze to death. Dabi's usual mask was no longer necessary, as he let his guard. One good thing about this cell was that there were no surveillance cameras around. It was nice enough to have a little bit of privacy.
The scarred villain brought his hands up to his mouth. Short painful breaths, limbs protesting against the freezing conditions. "Damn, is this worse than it used to be when I was a kid?" Dabi wondered. He had a few hours of sleep until it was time for dinner.
---------------------------------------------------------
A flat-screen TV was showing a recording. To most people, it would appear to be just a normal hero versus villain fight. But to Enji who had looked through this footage for months now sat puzzled and confused. Those eyes...that nose and that build; it, reminded him too much of his wife. The similarities were almost there; But the villain, Dabi, in the footage had burnt scars covering much of his body. Enji’s vision had been remarkably blurry during the fight, due to Dabi giving him a thorough beating, that he couldn’t be sure of what he saw; as if he couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling to reminisce over his oldest son. The boy,.Fuyumi's twin brother who had disappeared some ten years ago.
Enji sighed and paused the clip. "Touya...?" He muttered.
He'd tried to explain to the doctors what he had seen. But they had simply brushed it off as trauma. And his mind more inclined to see similarities with a villain and his lost son.
"Could he be?" Enji wondered.
It had been a faint moment before Hawks returned to where the fight had taken place. Dabi seemed conflicted yet so very angry at him. What could Endeavor possibly have done to create that kind of hatred? During his fight with High End and being cornered by Dabi, he had been mocked by the scarred villain. Enji did not like where his thoughts had wandered. Even if he had tried to fix things with Rei. Though he knew she couldn't see him, her mind would go back to step one again. He attempted to repair relations with his four, no three children. It would take years but somehow he felt more motivated to try and repair some of what he had ruined. On the path to try and create the ideal hero to take over All Might's spot, as a symbol of peace. It had been a very simple goal back then.
Find a family with a strong quirk lineage, marry the girl. Make sure his wife became pregnant and patiently wait until the children became four-years-old. Enji smiled wistfully at the memory after his two first had been born. Twins had been a surprise, a boy and a girl. Touya and Fuyumi, even if it had not been easy for the first two years of the boy's life; Touya was often sick and bedridden.
Enji feared Touya wouldn't live long enough to even turn four-years-old. The doctor had said back then it was a vague chance of Touya surviving. He'd been so small, while Fuyumi looked a lot healthier than her older brother…
Strange, why did he start to think about all this again?
Enji had barely thought about these things since his fight with High End, and the prominent scar that now covered the left half of his face. Facing Dabi's encroaching hatred towards him did not seem to have much to do with Endeavor being a hero.
Enji realised he needed to change if he wanted to have a chance at somewhat repairing the rifts he'd created with his family. He couldn't continue making the same mistakes that caused his children and wife to be afraid of hi; who hated him for how much he had favoured Shouto when he'd shown the perfect hybrid quirk.