My Dad Can't Be Worse Than Yours ||BNHA Villain Rehab||Tododeku||

Chapter 33- Power Through

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Once the black sludge completely melted off the new guest, forming a slowly spreading puddle across the ground, the night air became suffocating. It weighed heavily upon Izuku's lungs and he could barely breathe.

Only the helicopter blades above were cutting through the silence.

Every freezing breath that Izuku sucked in sored his throat, but he paid no to mind to that nor any other ache on his body because Dabi was the one who stood in the middle of that puddle.

Dabi's eyes were glossy from haze, but once he snapped into reality, it was clear that he was confused. As his eyes swept the broken buildings and the slimy debris and his two injured siblings, it wasn't long before Dabi realized exactly where he was.

The powerful aura of All For One gripped Dabi instantly.

"Boss?" he said.

Izuku staggered up immediately. Pain pulsed in the back of his calves and all around his shoulders, which didn't bode well with numbly cold and soaked skin. Still, he continued to sprint over to Dabi, wiping his knife with his dirty sleeve in the process.

He reached out to Dabi but was suddenly gripped by the shoulders, Dabi's thin fingers pressing into his skin.

"What happened to you?!" he demanded. " Why am I here? Why are you fighting the boss alone?!"

"Long..." Blood suddenly rushed to Izuku's head; the world started spinning. "Long st- no, short story. He brought us over here, away from everyone else." He placed his cold hand on Dabi's fingers. "But I don't know why you're here."

"Dabi!" Himiko landed with a splat next to them, sloshing greenish-brown mud onto her shoes. "You were kidnapped too?"

"Clearly I was," Dabi said. He grabbed Himiko's arm, examining her soiled sleeves from the dim glow of a barely surviving light. "Jeez, I heard the explosion but had no clue that it was because of All For One. Why would he blow up the Nomu factory?"

"That's the least of our issues right now, Dabi." Izuku replied.

"Yeah, how're you supposed to ditch the heroes and your entire family of friends while the boss is around?" Himiko asked, pointing at All For One's figure that was just... standing there, menacingly. "You're either gonna die tryna leave, or the heroes are going to capture you after this!"

"That's.. also not what we're worried about," Izuku intercepted.

"Shoot... you're right," Dabi muttered. For a small while, his eyes were blank, boring holes into the ground. Then, a small bundle of fury was lit, burning through his cool blue eyes, growing larger and larger. "But why... God, why did this happen?!" he roared. He gripped Himko's shoulders. "We never should've left that day! We never should've gotten caught!"

The utter fierceness in his words shook Izuku's core, and the words themselves pricked his heart.

"Don't say that; that's wrong." Izuku stated, truly believing in his words because even though everything truly turned out to be so messy and so confusing, he'd made so many friendships and learned so many lessons he wouldn't have been able to get otherwise.

"Maybe it was wrong for you!" Dabi shouted. His grip on Himiko tightened. "Your life completely switched around, but me? What did I ever gain from it?"

Himiko shoved Dabi away, but then immediately turned the tables and started shaking his shoulders instead. "Dabi, Dabi! What kinda attitude is that? You got a chance to see your brother again! He's grown into such a hot guy too! We also lived in a dorm. Wasn't that exciting?"

"But still," Himiko said, lowering her arms. "What are we gonna do, Izu-kun? I don't want Dabi to die or be sad by making him go back to U.A."

"Well, I'm pretty sure the people you guys murdered didn't want to die either, but here we are," Izuku said tactlessly. The two whipped their heads towards him—Himiko's in confusion, and Dabi's in disbelief. 

"Okay, maybe that wasn't the best thing to say," he scratched his head. He placed his hand on his heart and said, "But please, we're already here. Dabi, I'm so sorry; I know you wanted to stay out of this and avoid your past."

He gazed over the piles of broken concrete and wood. "But I just wanna ask this: Dabi, you may not have gained anything from the U.A. yet, but what else do you have to gain from leaving? You're all alone out there. I didn't want to ask this before because of our promise... but I'm questioning so many more of my decisions now, so now I'm questioning you."

Between their stares, Izuku felt the cold night air pass around them, brushing against his soaking clothes. The whirring from the helicopter blades and the whipping of the winds dimmed from his ears; he could only focus Dabi.

There was no answer. From up ahead, Izuku could see All For One rising to the sky. The trio tilted their heads up, their previous conversation fleeing their minds. The dark clouds in the night almost seemed to bend towards All For One, as if he were the eye of the storm and the entire sky were the hurricane.

"So, so much fighting," he mused. "And not even against me. It used to be so quiet around here, after Inko died. You were the only voice, Izuku, the only loud one. It was fantastic to watch. And now, you're letting the influence of your peers latch onto you. Quite disappointing, especially from my own son."

Izuku raised his knife up; what little moonlight that seeped through the clouds glinted on his blade. "This is no longer about me," he whispered, his words softly blowing away by the night air.

"I wonder, how much more chaos was brought about by your trip to U.A?" All For One thundered. "From those they call heroes. How many arguments have you three had with each other and with the other students? How much do they truly know about you?"

'Not enough.' Izuku thought. 'But I'm already closer with them than I am with you. They feel for me. You don't. And even if I think Aizawa betrayed me... what reason would I have for siding with you over him?!'

"Ignore him. Put up your fists, Dabi!" Himiko commanded.

"Why? How am I gonna fight him? He's literally flying!" Dabi argued.

"I'm interested to know how much they can accept you now, my son. The entirety of Japan is watching," All For One said. Energy crackled through the air. "People ostracize or worship anything they fear. They have already ostracized you, Toga. Izuku, I have yet to see how those will react. And for you, Dabi, I wonder how your family will react once they find out your secret. Now, we just have to see."

Heavy energy weighed down on them, pressing against their shoulders. Izuku yelled, "Be on your gu- AH!"

In a single flash, in a single powerful gust that slammed against Izuku's body full force, All For One charged. But not towards who he thought it was going to.

He stumbled back, his muscles so shaken up they felt like cotton. When Izuku opened his eyes, he saw All Might meeting All For One's fist, along with a full force of heroes backing him up.

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1185 words

A/N- after taking a mental health... month, i was feeling pretty good. but then i took the pre-ACT and now i feel dead again :D