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Touya could remember every single detail from growing up. Every burn. Every punch. Every tear he and his siblings shed...But, he was quite thankful, because he was the only one with Enjis quirk up until he was ten, so Fuyumi and Natsuo didn't get the abuse hardly at all. Touya did though, he got beaten every night, and he was slowly snapping. So he kept going to school, not telling a soul, and when he went home when he was fifteen it felt like a crime scene took place. Shouto curled up on Touyas bed, the skin boiled off around his eye while Rei and Enji were nowhere to be seen...So he cleaned and wrapped the wound, dropping out of school the moment he knew their mother was sent away for good.
Most days were spent waking up Fuyumi, Natsuo and Shouto, making breakfast, and taking them to school with a kiss on the forehead. Though he got the fullest extent of Enjis rage when he got home, and with such a defective quirk, he couldn't do much about it but sit there and wait for it to be over. He would just quickly treat his wounds, having to get used to wearing long sleeved shirts and jeans no matter the weather, he didn't want his siblings knowing how bad it was.
He just hated this household, with an undying burning passion. He would've burned this whole place to the ground already if it weren't for his siblings, they were far too young to go off on their own, the second oldest one was only twelve. So he kept working and working and working, playing mom daily and slowly crumbling with each passing week...It got to the point where he started sneaking out at night to take his aggression out on unknowing passersby in the city...As he looks back on it, he notices how he should've seen where this path leads.
…
Three years, three full years of playing mom, three years of taking care of all his siblings and getting abused by their father...He gave up, staring in the mirror at the scars he was covering in makeup daily. Lucky him, Enji was off on a mission, so he let all the kids stay home.
He made them a bunch of sweets from scratch, let them watch the kids movies Enji never let them, let Shouto just relax instead of training...That was the last time he remembered seeing a smile on any of them...But that night, they all curled up on the couch, cuddled up to Touya, all snoring and sleeping. Once he was positive they were all asleep, he carried each and every one to bed, taping goodbye and apology letters to each of their doors.
Each letter was different. Fuyumis was a quick apology followed by exactly how to take care of the other two, which was a very long and specific list since Natsuo was hesitant and Shouto didn't know her very well. Natsuos on the other hand was a careful goodbye, wishing him luck on school and university if he gets in.
Shouto had the longest. Such an intricate apology, apologizing for every little thing he had down wrong in his time playing mom, every wrong move, every time he had accidentally snapped at Shouto...By the time he was done, the paper was wrinkled slightly with tears and taped to Shoutos door.
He kissed all of the sleeping kids foreheads before running to his room. Wiping off all the makeup and grabbing an old black V Neck shirt to put on, including some jeans and boots...He was really doing this, he thought while grabbing his wallet and throwing his ID out.
And then he left, for good, not knowing where to go but knowing he needed to leave that house and move on with his life.
…
Seven Years...That's how long he's been gone, doing exactly the opposite of what his family had trained him to do. He was a villain, and Touya no longer existed. Dabi was who took his place, and even though he would give up anything to hug his siblings while treating them like babies, he knew he couldn't.
But Dabi wasn't exactly alone, he had his fair share of friends even if he had to mother them like he did with his siblings...He loved it though, living in a run down apartment with the league screaming and laughing and crying. They'd all curl up on the couch, Himiko pressed into Dabi and Twice for comfort as they watched the only movies they could get a hold of.
Almost every day he woke up, made breakfast, woke the others to feed them, and even though Himiko was the only member who knew his past...everyone could tell he had his days where he looked at the league like he missed the things right in front of him. No one asked though, and Dabi was extremely thankful for that, he couldn't explain that his father was the now Number One Hero.
Even with all the mothering he did with the league, he still left small gifts in this mothers hospital room when she was asleep. He occasionally left gifts at Shouto and Natsuos different dorms, but UA and the university were on different ends of the city...But he managed to acquire his families phone numbers (or all that he could since Rei couldn't have a phone).
…
Now, curled up on the couch, he was listening to Himiko make colorful friendship bracelets for Twice and her while singing with him. Tomura was sitting at the bar, trying his hardest to make plans for another attack. He smiled as much as he could with the scarred and stapled skin, just watching his small new family doing stuff.
Glancing down at his phone, humming as he shoots Shouto a message.
'Have a good day, Kiddo. Stay safe and don't train to hard...I miss you'