Chapter 10 (Dabi)

To say that I wasn’t missing Keigo right now is a lie.

September is now upon us, and the air has started to chill. It’s been a few days since we last were at the warehouse and all I could think of was how we had somehow ended up together tangled within each other that day.

Sure, it had been a while, but oh man. It felt like such a new experience, as if we were doing it for the first time. Which was half-true, it was the first in a while. My mind keeps thinking about how much different and familiar Keigo felt. He had finally got the top surgery he kept telling me about he wanted to get and the scars left behind, to me, added to his beauty. His body fit perfectly around mine and after such a long time, I had missed that feeling of being at home, one that only Keigo could give to me.

Finding out that my son had paralyzed voice chords pained my heart though. If only, if only I had stayed. I probably would have killed the Commission member responsible for training him at the time. I had a sense of pride for my son too; the strength he had to go through all that intense and harsh training at his age and not break down from it must have definitely come from his mom. I smile every time that Keigo sends me the daily self-portrait, he knows how much I want to know how Kaito is doing everyday, especially on the days we cannot meet. We met once, but under actual LOV work reasons, and we barely got to talking about ourselves before Keigo had to leave. I realized then, for Keigo, Kaito holds the first priority over everything else, even me, and I actually support it.

I am in the same bar that the LOV frequents everyday and this time, everyone is present, even Spinner and Mr.Compress. Toga sips at another one of her blood milkshakes and Kurogiri is fixing drinks for the rest, Twice keeps changing his mind on what he wants. I sigh as we all wait, it's been half an hour since the others and I entered the bar. We are waiting on Shigaraki, who's got another ingenious plan that we know might flop, that he wants to share. All I want right now is to get to Keigo, he has some time off and that too he’s with Kaito, who I still haven’t met. I message him that it will take me another hour max, and he replies with a pouting emoticon. I chuckle under my breath, he can be so adorable over the messages too.

Then the man of the hour enters the room, everyone turning and facing him. He keeps scratching at his neck, which makes me flinch. We both have damaged skin but I don’t keep agitating mine over and over. What a psycho.

Once he’s handed his drink of choice by Kurogiri, he starts talking.

“I have a plan.”

“Yeah no surprise.” I whisper under my breath, Toga chuckling next to me as she catches it.

“I want to attack the heroes where it’ll hurt them the most.” Shigaraki continues. “Their families, more importantly. I feel we need to get the message quite clear to them. That we, the League of Villains, are not to be underestimated.”

I sarcastically clap, and now Twice joins Toga in chuckling at my antics. Shigaraki’s face contorts into a frown and his eyes narrow at me.

“Got any problems with that Dabi?” he asks as he seethes.

“Nope.” I say nonchalantly, popping the ‘p’, pretending to be interested in my nails.

He takes a deep breath to center himself, the others still chuckling over our exchange. Once he gets another sip in, he talks.

“We go after Endeavor’s family first. He has a brat in the Hero Studies course at U.A right now. He is obsessed over the kid becoming the next number one. We get the brat injured as hell and that will be his warning. Dabi.” he points at me. “You’ll take a few of the guys here and go after the brat.”

I narrow my eyes, trying to keep my sudden discomfort down. I may be estranged from my family, but I still cared for my youngest sibling’s well-being. I’m thinking of how to get out of this or of how to screw it up without getting caught, but Shigaraki adds another thing for me to worry about.

“Second, Hawks. We got a lead on him having a kid. Toga found it out for us. I want the rest of you not in Dabi’s team to go after that lead.” he says and I almost lose it.

Shit! Fuck you, Toga!

Keeping the volume of my voice under control, I say strained, “But Hawks is on our side. I already know about the kid and he’s cooperative. Why go after him? The kid hasn’t done anything.”

Shigaraki has the nerve to smirk at me. “Apparently the kid’s under the Commission’s training program like Hawks was. Better to know that Hawks isn’t gonna turn on us. We’ll use the kid as insurance. And don’t worry, the kid won’t get hurt. Much.”

I control the urge to strangle the sneering bastard in front of me as he continues explaining the rest of the plan. I can’t take it anymore as he continues about how he wishes for each team to attack both the people who I love.

“Excuse me.” I say through clenched teeth, “I need to go, have to follow up on the task I gave Hawks.”

Before anyone can stop me, I barge out of the bar and am running towards the warehouse. Once I’m at the warehouse, I collapse, fear taking over as the words that Shigaraki said keep overwhelming me more and more. I start to breathe deeper and faster, but it feels like I’m unable to take any air into me. As I start hyperventilating, my emotions start converging over my mind.

I have to protect them! I have to protect my younger brother and my son!

My panic attack continues and it’s when I remember.

Whenever I used to panic as a teenager, Keigo made me go through a breathing exercise. I start breathing the way that I remember him guiding me. It takes a while, but once I start breathing, I take note of my surroundings and once they clear in my vision, I know that I have calmed down. I was alone during any of my panic attacks in the last ten years and it was the memory of Keigo guiding me that always saved me from them. I smile as I think about how Keigo was my savior forever. He was and is my hero.

That’s it! I know what to do now. I know right now, if I had to choose between the LOV and my family, it would always be my family. There was no way I was going to let the LOV hurt them. Especially not Shouto and Kaito, who have already gone through enough suffering of their own; Shouto because of our father and Kaito due to the Commission. I steel my resolve.

I am going to be their hero.

And this time, I would see through my promise.

I know it will be difficult. Especially when I still have vengeance on my mind against Endeavor. But I would do it. I will become a brother that my siblings would look up to, and a father that my son respects and admires.

It’s with that intention that I make my way towards where Keigo and Kaito live, with a mission to approach the very Commission that made them suffer. For now, that is my best route to becoming a hero. I would give them all the information they needed on the League, in turn for a chance to keep Kaito safe myself.

No one touches my family anymore. Never again.

Comment