D. A. B. I. [COUNT TO TEN FICVERSE]

Research Hour: Fiery Rage

"I want my patient back," Shouto stated.

"No."

"You don't have the ability to refuse me," Shouto slammed his hand down on the desk. After many trials and errors thinking up ways to counteract his father, he'd come up with one: Izuku Midoriya.

"Are you threatening me, Shouto?" he chuckled. His flames flickering with amusement.

"No, I'm telling you the facts. I stabilize Izuku Midoriya. Touya will not be able to. Do you want him to escape his cell? Causing havoc? He needs me as a doctor."

"Quite confident in your abilities, aren't you?" his father shook his head. "Those fears of yours will soon be discounted. Touya can handle it. I have full faith in that. He has a special type of therapy."

"You will give me Izuku Midoriya or I will leave. I will disown you. You won't have the financial backing of the Yaoyorozu. You won't have your power with the underground. You need me, father, and I will leave if you don't give me this one thing." The fiery anger burned in his eyes. Shouto's eyes. He couldn't hold back his rage forever. He was his father's son.

It took hours. Hours and hours of discussion. Careful plotting and scheming between father and son. Shouto, eventually, did it. He managed it just in time too. The pit in his stomach, that dangerous feeling that Izuku was in danger, he felt it the entire time. So, he ran as fast as his feet could carry him. He rushed to Izuku. He tried his best. He kicked the door down as steam escaped from his red side. Fire. A terrifying flame to exhibit his rage, towards Touya, towards their father. How dare they conspire to injure Izuku's mental stability? They were bastards, the both of them, or so he thought in his anger.

Shouto walked over to Touya and grabbed his shirt. He stared him in the eyes and growled. "I was right to come back early. Not only have you toyed with my patient but you put his mental health at risk by trying to burn lies into his fragile mind. I don't exist? Really? Shall I show you how much I don't exist, Touya?" He knew this from his discussion with his father. He knew how well Touya would put it into Izuku's mind. He also knew that if he'd come a moment too late Izuku wouldn't be able to be put back together. He was mad, not just at his father, not just at Touya, but at himself for not seeing this sooner. He was angry that he couldn't trust his brother to protect him anymore. He was angry that he couldn't protect his brother from being forced to make such immoral choices. They both had people to protect, was that it? If his mind were a bit more rational, and not so consumed by fire, he might've thought about Tomura Shigaraki.

"Burn lies? Wow, the only one doing any burning here is you, Shouto," Touya smiled. Shouto tried his best to calm himself. He wasn't going to be his father. He wasn't going to injure Touya for being a little prick. The guy had enough of that.

"You are an absolute disgrace to psychiatrists everywhere," Shouto decided. He knew this to be the case. This was just how it was going to be, wasn't it? Touya was always going to be a prick, even if he was Shouto's only friend.

"I've told you. I never became a psychiatrist to help people. I only became one to manipulate them for my own amusement," Touya removed Shouto's hands from his shirt. He spoke calmly, with purpose, despite the obvious shaking of his knees. He was bouncing them up and down, trying his best to ignore the red fire of Shouto.

"You despicabl-"

"Shouto? You're on...fire? Are you okay?" Izuku's voice. Shouto turned to look at him. The fear in his eyes. The shock on his face. The tears almost forming. Immediate guilt. He had to cool off. He released his grip on his brother. He stared only at Izuku, thinking only of Izuku, and went back to his cold, calm, collected self.

"I'm fine. I apologize for worrying you and putting you through this entirely strange interaction. Touya, apologize for your insolence," Shouto turned to his brother, a glare-filled look.

"Right, right, I'm sorry," Touya sighed.

"Why were you...on fire?" Izuku stood up. "You were on fire! Did you get burned?! Are you really okay! Your clothes are a bit singed! Is your hair okay? Is your face burned? Are you still breathing?!"

"Izuku, I have a quirk just like you do, please don't be so surprised. I tried to tell you before, remember? After you jumped to conclusions thinking I was quirkless." Did he try to tell him before? Ah, he did, right before the indirect kiss incident. Shouto was remembering things even with his brain so muddled. This experience happened again. Shouto was too distracted by his own muddled brain to hear the words of his brother and the door close behind him.

"If you have a quirk, and I have a quirk, does everyone here have a quirk? Why does this place exist for trapping people that think they have quirks if quirks do exist?" Izuku frowned. Those were very good questions. Questions that Shouto had been asking for a long time. He didn't quite know the answer. The only answer he did know was the fact that his father was behind it for his own personal gain.

"You're here because Deku killed and tormented people. You were able to get out of prison by entering a heavily secure facility. These people are here because the world isn't ready for quirks, not because quirks aren't real. A lot of them still have mental health issues and various other problems that make them and their quirks dangerous. The people treating them have quirks. It helps keep the business secret without putting any people without quirks into a tight situation. The only reason your former doctors tried to convince you that you didn't have a quirk was because you were originally quirkless and they were bothered by it. And, because Deku scared them so they didn't want you aware that you had one." This was partially what his father had told him. Shouto suspected there was another hidden agenda somewhere, he just didn't know of it yet.

"This is quite the eye-opener."

"I apologize again for Touya. I'm not entirely sure why he did this. In any case, what was the tenth item on your list?" Shouto asked, trying to get the conversation back to something the two were both familiar with. The list. The list that was almost completed.

Izuku's face turned red. Beet red. Shouto didn't understand why. Was the tenth item that bad? What could possibly create that type of reaction? Was it sex? Holy shit. It was sex wasn't it? Shouto's anxiety increased. He couldn't have sex with Izuku! There were kisses, there was that one incident in the bathroom, but having sex with the patient right after threatening his father? This was a bit too close together for that to happen...

"It was a hug," Izuku mumbled.

"Oh thank the heavens. I thought you were going to say something drastically different. I'll meet you in the hallway then," he said, turning to leave. Shouto had to get away to calm down a bit. He was being silly. Izuku wouldn't have had the tenth item be sex. Ha! Silly Shouto. He was saved from that painful experience of trying to figure out how to get the tenth item completed.