Lost Bonds

Chapter 3: Toya

Note: I realise now that Kurogiri was captured in the anime, I forgot. Due to laziness, I'm leaving it as it is.

I had no clue what to do. He was just there, broken. Sobbing. Trying to talk to him would have made the situation worse. According to Toga, he hasn't got his Provisional Hero Liscene. His first instinct will be to attack me, since I've been cremating people in alleyways since starting to recruit for the League. It'll just get him into trouble. He may be a hero in training, but I care about him.

I regret not bringing him with me. I regret bringing none of them with me. Yeah sure, we were all really young, but we would have found a way to live through it. Fuyumi is smart, she always has been. She would have had a plan. I was selfish to leave on my own. And I've just caused destruction ever since. My family has collapsed in on itself, I joined one of Japan's most infamous and most powerful organised crime groups.

It's too late now. Shoto is set on becoming a hero. Although, he aims to be a good hero. Better than Endeavour. But at the same time, his motives are corrupt. Far from in line with Stain's ideals. He just wants to show he's better, he doesn't want to save people. Also, he may want to protect people from people like him. Stain's ideals are complex. Only he truly understands them. They're far beyond my own true understanding. The definition of a worthy hero isn't definite. I just have to hope that Shoto is worthy, I don't want to have to kill him.

I lurk in the shadows with my thoughts. Even before I became a villain, the underworld was the only place I was accepted. My mother's weak constitution became my undoing. I thought that it was nice to have a part of her within me, but it quickly became a burden. My lack of tolerance for flames is what caused me to be thrown aside, discarded like a puppet with broken strings, or worn limbs, only for the puppet master to replace me. I just wish that I could show him. My body may be weak, but my flames burn brighter and harsher than his own.

I earn wide eyed glances as a travel down the dark street. Fear flashes across their faces. They hope that I won't let my fire run rampart around their safe haven. I'm not in the mood, fortunately for them. I soon reach the current League hideout, also known as hell. Iguchi, Toga, Bubaigawara and Sako are all trying to get the latter's prosthetic arm off, it seems that it's gotten stuck again. They're all yelling, it easily gets on my nerves. I grab a drink from behind the bar and down it, since seeing Shoto like that today has really put me on edge. I put the bottle back and sit at the bar, doing my best to blatantly ignore their shouting and arguing.

"Dabi, help us out! No, we don't need you!" Bubaigawara calls to me. I can never tell what he's trying to say to me, his split thinking makes him hard to read. Spinner translates, "we need help, for fuck's sake. It's hurting Sako." I roll my eyes and spin my seat around so I'm facing them, "I can tell he's in pain, he's bloody screaming the place down." Sako looks at me as best he can behind the mask, and angrily remarks, "well, I'll be able to quiet down if you help get this fucking arm off me! Shit, Toga, don't use a knife!"

I snap. I stomp over to them, and put my hand against the steel prosthetic. I melt down the mechanisms inside, and pull the arm off of his stump. "Perfect. Now I need a replacement from Giran," Sako sarcastically says to himself. "You never said you wanted it in perfect condition. Where's Shigaraki?" Toga frowns at me, she clearly sees that something's bothering me. The other probably can too. Toga tells me, "he's out at the moment. Why do you want to see him? You hate each other."

I sit down, sighing, "I have an idea for a potential recruit, but he's a UA student. I want to see if Shigaraki would want to recruit him. He has the potential to change sides, and is really powerful." Twice perks up, and decides that insulting me is a good idea, "surprised you didn't burn him to a crisp." I snap. I get up and pin him to the wall, my hand around his neck. "Say shit like that again and I'll add you to the list of people I've cremated." He clearly understands my threat and how dangerous I am, he's scared.

I drop him and go back to sitting down. Sako asks in a slightly high voice, "so, who's the student you have in mind?" I give him a glance, but ignore him. He insists on an answer, and I eventually give him it, "Shoto Todoroki." They all give me weird looks. Probably because he doesn't seem likely to turn on his friends and family. They just don't know what he's been through. The hell he's received for nothing more than being born. For existing. I can save him from it all, I can help him get revenge. Footsteps echo within the bar, and I know that he's here. I just need to hope that I can convince him to take him on.

Shigaraki grunts out, "what the fuck happened while I was gone?" Sako motions to his arm, and then I say, "I have an idea for a new recruit. A powerful one. But they're from UA." He looks at me with disgust, "you know what happened the first and last time we tried to take a UA student and convert them." I sigh, I knew this wasn't going to be easy. "He has a chance to change. It's Shoto Todoroki." He seems even less convinced, "why would he change sides?" I already had a cover story ready for when I had to convince him, hopefully they believe it.

"Ever since I saw him in the Sports Festival, I was curious about him. About the burn on his face, and how it could emit flames, unlike the rest of that side of his face. What happened to him is a well kept secret, but not well kept enough. His mother poured boiling tea onto his face when he was a child, and in the struggle to stop it hurting him, she used her ice on the burn, which is why it scarred. Endeavour hospitalised her, to 'keep Shoto safe'." They all seem confused. Spinner asks, "what does that have to do with him switching sides?"

I continue with my monologue, "if you look at the Sports Festival closely, you can also see that Shoto was reluctant to use his flames, which came from his father. All of this has a root cause, Endeavour. I have a theory that Endeavour used his influence to get himself a wife with a powerful Quirk, and used his children to surpass All Might, the man he envied most. In doing this, he neglected the children with inferior Quirks to what he needed, and mercilessly trained the worthy 'succesor', Shoto. This lead to neglect, abuse of his youngest son and his wife, which then lead to his wife going insane. She saw too much of Endeavour in Shoto's left side, so she tried to get rid of it."

They all stare, open mouthed. Kurogiri asks, "how did you find all of this out?" I survey everyone's faces, looking for a hint of suspicion. There's none. "It was some simple research, spying, and intellect. My theory isn't definite, but I think there's a chance. Either way, he had a hatred of his father. I can take care of capturing him, I just wanted everyone to agree that we should take him on and try to bring him to our side." Shigaraki nods, and informs me, "if this goes wrong, you're sorting it out. We're taking no responsibility for your mess."

I nod back to him, "I'll take care of everything. Capture, holding, conversion. You won't have to get your hands dirty." Toga looks up at me and questions, "why are you so ready to take care of this all? You're usually really lazy. What's so special about Todoroki? Also, why did you use his first name? You referred to all of the other UA students, like the one we captured, by their last names. Do you have some kind of relationship with him? Sako says you spoke to him when we captured the mean, blonde one. Wasn't it 'poor little Shoto Todoroki', or something? You're opinion seems to have quickly changed on him." Sako nods in confirmation.

Crap. I quickly and smoothly weave an elaborate lie, "I've taken up an interest in him since Endeavour rose to Number One. Endeavour seems to be aiming to become a Symbol, just as All Might was. How he copes with this may be interesting. I'm leaving now, I have planning to do." I walk off, praying that they leave it at that. Muttering starts as a leave, I can't be asked to listen in. My priority now is to save Shoto, my baby brother. He won't be easy to convince, but I have a few aces up my sleeve. I go back to my shithole of a room, and lay down. Sleep quickly pulls me under, I'm too tired to do anything more.

Wordcount: 1586