Chapter Text
Keigo leaves him alone about the topic for a week after the shrine incident. Which was longer than he thought but shorter than he hoped for. He does however manage to avoid his pretty bird for another two days before he is cornered after a lieutenants meeting. Keigo all but drags him back to what Dabi is starting to consider their room.
"Come on Dabs, we need to talk about this." Keigo has started to pace the length of the room at a dizzying speed. Dabi has taken a seat on the edge of the bed watching him pace.
"What's there to talk about? I am still going to kill Endeavor and they can find out with the rest of the world when I reveal myself." He retailed. He doesn't want to be talking about this.
"You said you were tired of lying." Keigo throws his own words in his face. "And they're your siblings and you love them. They are deserving of the truth. You would always tell me stories about them and talk about missing them while you were at the commission. You would miss them after a month. I can't imagine how much you miss them after 10 years away from them." Keigo pressed.
"Touya missed his siblings. I couldn't give less of a shit about them." Dabi angrily retorted, "Especially his precious masterpiece."
"You don't have to lie to me, Tou." Keigo finally stops his pacing, stopping in front of him. He reaches out gently, always so gentle with him like he is deserving of gentleness, cups his face and tilt his head so he's looking up at him. "I know it's easier to hide behind that anger. And you can be angry at your father but your siblings were also just kids in that house. I'd get it if you didn't want to see Shouto. I know your feelings about him are mixed, even though I've heard from my little chicklet that he's also not the biggest fan of Endeavor. But why not Fuyumi and Natsuo?" Keigo questions him, letting out a sad coo, letting him know how much this is really bothering him.
"You want the truth Kei?" he bites back, standing up causing Keigo to take a step back, but not away from him with just enough room for him to stand, "It's the same reason I didn't tell you when we first met or even tried to talk to you after your debut. I know what I look like now and I know what I've done and I can't be the same boy they knew. And while you might be able to look past the whole villain thing," gesturing at himself, "I don't think Fuyu or Natsu are going to be half as forgiving. And I really doubt the hero in training who I already tried to kill as a child would be!" Keigo flinches at the reminder of something Touya had confessed to him many years ago in their dark dorm rooms. Dabi takes the chance to get some space from him, feeling himself starting to heat up with his emotions running high.
It only take Keigo a moment to compose himself again, "I think they'll have missed you and just be happy to have you in their lives again like me." Keigo moves to stand in the middle of the room, close but giving Dabi the space he needs, "I'm not going to force you to do it, but I'd really like you to think about it. I can try to feel them out if you would like? I kept in contact with Fuyumi over the years after your funeral." Keigo gives a little snort of amusement.
"Why the fuck have you been talking to my sister birdie?" he sneers at the other man, he does not stopping his pacing around the room.
Keigo lets out a deep sigh clearly done with his shit, "Don't act jealous over your own sister, hot stuff. I was the only other person besides your family that mourned you. I told you already until I met Dabi I hadn't been interesting in anyone else." he manages to snag Dabi's hand as he passes by him, pulling him towards the bird. "I've only got eyes for you and trust me your sister knows how little interest I have in dating."
"I'm not jealous of my sister." He knows he sounds like a petulant child, and he might be a little jealous but only because he should have his birdie all to himself and not have to share him. Not even with his siblings.
"Whatever you say Dabs." Keigo laughs out before pressing a chaste kiss to his lips. "Now I haven't exactly had time lately to talk to, let alone see her recently but I'm sure she would be happy to catch up with me and even see if your brothers would join."
Fuck, he lost this one the second he started acting like a spoiled brat and not a maniac, "You're not going to drop this are you?"
"Nope!" He pops the p on the word with one of his bright smiles.
"Okay fine. But no telling them I'm alive or who I am till I give the go ahead." he said trying to be menacing but knows it likely has little effect on Keigo.
The small kiss on the tip of his nose lets him know he's right on the money on the effect he has on birdie, "Of course Dabs. Pinky swear." But before Dabi can react his little finger is already intertwined with Keigo's.
"Ya know birdie most people don't do the pinky swear without waiting for the other person." he says with a fond exacerbated sigh, far too used to the others' antics.
"Hey Fuyumi, it's been too long."Hawks walks into the private dining room of the restaurant he was meeting them all in. "Natsuo, Shouto good to see you both as well." he nods at them before taking his seat.
Fuyumi had responded to his message within an hour. After talking to her brothers they decided Saturday evening would be the easiest time for them to all meet. Hawks flew up to Musutafu this afternoon, much easier than the siblings coming all the way down to Kyushu to meet him. Especially if this went well he would be making them make the trip sometime soon.
"It has been too long. But we understand that being the number two hero takes its toll on someone and I'm sure it's hard to find a spare moment to come up all the way to Musutafu from Fukuoka just to see some old friends." Fuyumi reassured him.
"Hawks I came because Fuyumi-nee asked me to but I was not aware that you personally knew anyone in the family besides Endeavor." Shouto inquires with a small furrow in his eyebrows.
"Oh Shouto I forgot how young you were when it happened. Hawks was a friend of Touya's while he was training away from home." Fuyumi explains carefully. Any mention of the eldest Todoroki sibling has to be handled with care lest they shatter the small peace this family has on the topic. A peace Hawks is trying to actively shatter, hopefully for the best.
"Oh." Shouto brightens up considerably at the mention of his brother, "You knew Touya-nii? Natsu-nii has been telling me about him when he has the chance but between school for the both of us and Endeavor not liking us to talk about Touya I haven't heard very much." He looks at his brother giving what must be a vibrate smile for him if the way Natsuo looks back at him is any indication.
"Shouto I'm sure Hawks has much more important things to do than reminisce about Touya with us." Fuyumi said offering Hawks a way out of what could be a difficult conversation.
"Eh I'm sure if he's already here there's no reason he can't tell us about his time with Nii-san. Isn't that right number two?" Natsuo chimes in finally speaking. He turns towards him with a smile that is a little to Dabi for his liking.
He's forgotten a crucial fact. Natsuo has held a grudge of sorts against him since they met. He was never happy that Hawks became Touya's new favorite. A fact Hawks didn't know until his funeral when the huge 8 year old had come up to him and pushed him over and yelled about how Hawks got to see his Touya-nii more than him and even when he got to see him he wouldn't shut up about his stupid bird friend. Their relationship had improved over the years as he realized none of that was actually Hawks' fault but he still kept him at a further distance than his sister.
"Of course I'll be glad to." He beamed back, his press smile on in full force. "What do you wanna hear about? The time we snuck away from training to go to an arcade, the time we managed to keep a kitten in our dorm room for 3 days, oh or how about when we finally figured out how to use Touya's fire to create a thermal current to move me higher faster?" He asked. He'll obviously leave out the punishment that the first two resulted in but the stories before then were very cute looking back and totally worth it.
Hawks chattered his way through the meal. Answer questions about the time he spent with Touya. Fuyumi and Natsuo also share stories some he knows but a lot he doesn't or they tell it differently than Touya did. He's always been a wildly inaccurate story teller. But as the meal concludes he has to do what he actually came here for.
"So the main reason I asked to meet you all was I ran into someone who might actually know Touya better than me, who I think you should all get to meet."
"Is it someone else from your program?" Fuyumi asks.
"Sort of. I just wanted to make sure it was okay with all of you before I tried to introduce you all."
"Of course!" he knew Natsuo would jump at the chance to meet another person that knew his brother, especially one that isn't Hawks. "Right guys? Come on." Shouto readily agreed with him.
Fuyumi always the more cautious one, "Only if you guys are sure. And if you really think it's a good idea Hawks?" he nodded to her, "Then sure. We'll have to figure out another time though. We need to be getting Shouto back to UA soon and I'm sure you have more important hero business to attend to."
"Of course Fuyumi. I can reach out to you soon and we can get something figured out soon."
They wrap up quickly after that. Hawks foots the bill at the distress of Fuyumi. Claiming that he came all the way up here to meet them so the least they could do is take call of the bill. Sadly for her he as already paid the bill by the time she realized.
"You can pay next time?" He counters.
"Yes and you better let me." She scolded him.
They say their goodbyes after that. Promises of reaching out soon and hopefully seeing each other more often. Fuyumi gave him a hug and he hugs her back twice as hard for Dabi. Natsuo gives him a "playful" punch in the shoulder with a quick bye before he's out the door with Fuyumi fast on his heels scolding him for being rude.
Shouto gives him the most polite handshake a teenager has ever given him, "I agree with Fuyumi-nee I do hope we can see each other again soon. I'd enjoy hearing more about Touya-nii. It sounds like you two always had a lot of fun." Shouto stated seriously.
He can hold back the little cheep that comes out of him as he pulls his mates little brother into a hug, "Of course Shouto anytime. You can get my number from Fuyumi if you'd like. You're free to reach out to me anytime."
Dabi doesn't know what his birdie is cooking up with his siblings. Its been a couple days since their initial talk but he knows he's meeting up with them today. He's tried to think about his feelings, ew, and meeting up with Fuyumi and Natsu doesn't feel like the worst thing he could do. It's not going to be a smart thing, not by a long shot, he's an A-rank villain and they're an elementary school teacher and a college student focused on learning how to help people. Couldn't find careers more the opposite.
I guess you could. His baby brother is a hero in training but that's more different sides of the same coin. They both hurt people just for different reasons. He had somewhat got over his issues with Shouto talking about it with Keigo years ago, he knows it's not his brothers fault he was born to replace him.
He's also not ready to admit out loud that he has some kind of inferiority complex about it all— can't really afford for people to think he's not a raging psychopathic pyromaniac. But he doesn't really hate the kid, just doesn't know him the same way he knew Fuyu and Natsu. Wasn't allowed to.
While he's not the same kid they knew, and while he's sure they have changed some their changes are going to be much less drastic than Dabi's own. They at least knew him unlike Shouto. So he still has his doubts on them just accepting him back into their life's like Keigo has, his birdie is a little crazy and far too trusting.
"Dabs!" Keigo yells as he's vaulting through the door on his balcony. Dabi had been lazing about the hero's apartment since last night, not wanting to have another conversation about his family at the PLF mansion. "It went really well I think." his birdie chirped hopping his way over, Dabi has to suppress a fond smile at seeing his birdie do his happy bird walk.
"Tell me about it." he grumbled as he grabbed Keigo's arm to drag him onto the couch with him. Causing the other man to laugh. The meeting must have gone well if he's in this good of a mood.
"How about I do you one better." he chirped and brought his phone out of his pocket. "I took a page out of Skeptics book and had a little camera on my wings so I could show you how it went."
After the whole Touya reveal Dabi had managed to convince, i.e. threaten to burn down his monitor room till he did it, Skeptic to take all the cameras out of Keigo's wings which was a relief for both of them. For Dabi mostly because it was easier than remembering to turn them off before him and birdie fucked.
It then hits Dabi he's actually going to see, in video, his siblings for the first time in a decade minus Shouto. Fuyu and Natsu stayed away from all the cameras and news as much as they could so they're only a few scattered photos of them in the last few years. Shouto is obviously been all over the news with UA and their brief meeting this summer at the training camp. Oh god Fuyumi is going to kill him over that.
"Hey Tou." Keigo said, coaxing him out of his spiral before it could get too far. "There you are, firefly. You wanna talk about what's going on up there?" Keigo's hand is cold and gentle cupping his face.
He takes some deep breaths lowering his temperature back to a normal level, he didn't even realize he was getting so hot till he felt Keigo's hand on his face. "No I'm good just thinking too much. Show me what you got, birdie."
"If you're sure." He nods his assent and Keigo pulls up the video on his phone.
Keigo skips around a little, missing small lulls in conversation or talking with the waiter. But he gets to see and hear his siblings for the first time in so long. He knows deep down part of the reason he never tried to see them again was he knew he wouldn't be able to pull back again. If he was going to get his revenge for everything Endeavor did to them all he couldn't have them in his life. He hates that it's taken Keigo doing this for him to realize maybe that revenge isn't as important as seeing his siblings happy and joking together. That maybe them and his pretty bird could be enough to sustain him like his anger has all these years.
So when Keigo asks him if he wants to meet them he knows his answer without any hesitation.
"Yeah birdie I think I really want to." He choked out, trying not to let himself attempt to cry.
It's Wednesday, he's yet to really leave Keigo's apartment since deciding on meeting up with his siblings. He's chosen today to bring up what's been on his mind. They've already eaten dinner and are now on the couch with some reality TV show he couldn't care less about and birdie is on his phone.
"You know I'm crazy right?" he asks not bothering to get his attention before talking.
Keigo has his back to Dabi's chest settled between his legs. He has to crane his neck back to look at him. "Of course hot stuff." he says placidity patting the other mans leg.
"No Keigo, I'm being serious. Not the whole Dabi raging psychopathic pyromaniac thing. Like—" he hesitates on if he should even tell him this, but he's really trying with the whole honesty thing, "I lied a little the other day about the first time we met as Dabi and Hawks. I ignored you and threw up a wall of fire because that's what I did every time you appeared before me."
"Dabs, what do you mean that was the first time we met?"
"Yea." He agrees, "Not the first time I saw you, or thought I saw you I guess. It's something that didn't happen often but happened enough. If it wasn't you it would be Natsu or Fuyu. It would mostly be voices but on occasion I'd see someone who wasn't really there. Tended to be if I was in a worse place than normal. Sometimes fried out of my mind on whatever drugs I could get my hands on or if I saw something that reminded me of home." Birdie gives him one of his sad bird coos. "Usually once the fire goes up they disappear. Then when you didn't, it freaked me out a whole lot more."
"While the League isn't the most sane or stable being around other people helped. I think being around you again helped even more. Someone from my past with mostly good memories helped the most though. Not saying your dick is magic or anything." he jokes trying to cut the tension. All it earns him is Keigo turning around and fully planting himself in Dabi's lap.
"Thank you for telling me this." Keigo said followed by a chaste kiss on his lips.
"That's not all birdie. My moods never been stable. One second I'm fine and the next I'm throwing fire all over the place. It has been better since I've been meeting up with you, more like when we were kids. But I can never tell when my head's going to go bad again." He groans, "I'll go from pushing you away to wanting to tie you up so you can never leave me." he confessed.
"Kinky."
"Fuck Kei I'm being serious!" he spat out, "I'm going to be a lot. And if you can't handle that, tell me now before I really get my hopes up."
"I know, sorry hot stuff." Keigo's rubbing along the scars under his eyes, he hopes he's not about to start 'crying'. "You won't be too much for me. Remember I fell for you again before I knew you were Touya. I love all of you mood swings and all, promise?" This time Keigo holds his hand out pinkie up waiting for Dabi to join. And like the sappy asshole he's turning into he does.
"Hey maybe once you're not longer legally dead and I don't have to worry about the commission arresting me for being a traitor we can both go to therapy." Keigo mused.
There's that endless hero optimism, "Yeah, yeah birdie whatever you say."