On and on, the obnoxious heart rate monitor's incessant noise forcefully rose him up into the hatefully burning sensation of the waking world.
Beep— Beep— Beep!
He almost choked on the lack of moisture in his throat.
Uncontrollably he struggled to swallow nonexistent saliva, his pulse quickened. He needed to leave. To get up and defeat Endeavor, oh, revenge tasted so sweet… just a little more and—
His body shook with all the force he had; the metal skeleton felt so tight as it crushed him. Dabi's ragged gasps ripped its way out of his throat, he couldn't breathe! Slowly, haltingly, it took him a moment before he recalled that he was caged in this miniscule hell of an existence.
" —Tōya, I'm here…" the familiar voice forced his rapidly beating chest to halt into an unrecognizable mush of emotion.
His unfocused eyes frantically skipped over one corner of the room to the next. He felt faint, the quacks had been working overtime to keep his husk of a body running. Even now, he couldn't help but feel the bitterness that he was still alive. He burned with hate and a sneer split his charred lips.
"Oh it's you," he muttered.
Oh right, I failed…
Tōya Todoroki's gaze took in the beaten form of his father. A short rancid chuckle escaped him, warbled and warped. His half lidded eyes clouded over.
"Where's dear old mom?" he couldn't help but ask.
"Rei, couldn't make it," his father's exhausted voice slowly answered.
Beep— Beep— Beep—
"Right, right…" She was meeting Natsuo's fiancé, good for him. He could picture the masked resentment that his younger brother threw his way. Hell, he wouldn't hold it against him if Natsuo just decided to forget this charade and move on from this little pity party his family held for him… like he did Endeavor.
It would have been easier on both of them. But no, Natsuo came back with more things to say. He was graduating this spring and even had a job and apartment lined up away from their dear old d–Endeavor. At any other time Tōya would have interrupted him, asked him why it mattered. Why speak to him at all when Tōya so readily used him as collateral damage in the hopes of hurting Endeavor. But there was something holding him back, and that something else pushed him to ask his younger brother. To learn more about him…
What made him so interested in studying Health and Wellness?
The cheaply hidden bashful look that Natsuo had when he said his fiancé had something to do with it explained everything. He met her at a mixer on the invitation of his high school friends who joined him at Tokyo University.
Instead of feeling happy for his brother, Tōya couldn't help but wonder why he even asked if the answer only made him all the more bitter.
"What are you doing here, F– Endeavor?" He felt exhausted in a way that he could only explain as being wholly unique to any other tiredness Tōya had ever experienced.
A permanent malaise where even talking made him ache.
"To talk with you," Endeavour said after a moment as if it were that simple.
It almost sickened him with how resolute the old man was when it came to this song and dance—and he couldn't even do that right.
Repeating age old methods in the only way he knew how, by brute forcing his way into things. Even now, when his burns had healed enough for him to have his bandages removed. His pale red scars had severely eaten away at his hairline.
Honestly, Tōya would have laughed at that if it weren't so sad. If he didn't feel—
His miniature cage violently shook again, as he strained against it, his bones grinded against the metal but he pushed through the pain.
"Do—do you think that… if you could do it all over again, that you would have gone up to Sekoto Peak?" he said in between sharp gasps, it was a stupid question. Even as he saw the way his— Endeavor scrunched up his blotchy face.
"I… don't think I would have been capable of making that decision, Tōya," The old man slowly said. His stump of an arm twitched unconsciously as he shifted in his wheelchair. "I was so taken by envy that it consumed me. It was wrong. I see that now… I was too blind to go up there, to be there for you when you needed me." He looked up at his son, with eyes that conveyed more emotion than Tōya could stand.
"I— I'm sorry, I put you through so much." Endeavor's head fell in shame, as he muttered the last word between them. He looked at Endeavor, imagining the large imposing figure. He wanted that man to tell him that… Not —not this.
But no, now all he had was an unrecognizably small man… perhaps he had won in a sick and twisted way. It didn't feel as gratifying as he hoped. This wasn't who he wanted begging at his feet. And that sentence, if it weren't so honest maybe it would have broken the last piece that was holding him together.
"Remind me, Fuyumi is starting that job at the pastry shop making tempura ice cream cakes?" Tōya asked, his voice equally as small. He'd ignore his— he'd ignore the last sentence because if he didn't, then he was sure that he'd fall apart.
"Among other things, yes."
He could see the unrecognizable old man smile, one of those rare faltering smiles. Fuyumi was just as kind as Tōya remembered. The thought of her made the pit in his stomach feel large enough to swallow him whole.
He was surprised that she could hold onto so much anger in her heart. How she felt so helpless, lacking confidence to make her own decisions. Letting herself be holed up in that estate of misery as if things were okay. Trying so hard to rekindle some semblance of childhood they shared, before Tōya's defect had fractured… whatever happiness they all had. It made it difficult for her to continue teaching at her elementary school. Once he revealed himself as a killer on national TV. And she by association— well in the end she had quit and he didn't have the right to ask for specifics, so he left it at that.
As he patiently listened to her ramble on, his younger sister fidgeting with the purse she held between them.
Tōya's chuckles turned into a dry heave as it wracked his body with fresh agonies. He had almost forgotten what pain had felt like when his body's nerve endings were burned to ash. But now he wasn't even surprised when the doctor's gave him a new reason to hate this place.
"Good for her…"
Beep— Beep— Beep—
His eyes scanned his—Endeavor for the umpteenth time. The polo shirt and hunched posture made him look twice his age, instead of the imposing number one hero he imagined defeating every night.
What a joke…
"Mot–Mother, you said that she's been volunteering in the relief efforts around Central Hospital?"
"That is correct, she is serving at a soup kitchen during the mornings after seeing Shoto off." Endeavor said, he looked uncomfortable at the mention of her—guilty, even.
"I–I'm glad."
And he really was. Tōya couldn't look her in the eye. He really wanted to, but it hurt him more than he could stand.
Why? Why didn't he go to her first? He could have gone to anyone, Fuyumi, Natsuo, his mother. After he set fire to All For One's facility. When he escaped that mockery of a daycare.
But no he went to his fathe— to Endeavor first… to that dojo. They really were made for each other.
Tōya was just as much a piece of shit as his father.
His eyes furrowed, the crack of dead skin rang audible to his ears as he forced them to look at the crippled man below him with more intensity than he would ever be capable of again.
"You should go, Enji. There is nothing left here for you, old man. I'm just a bag of failures, you know. D'you just come here to torture yourself?" Tōya whispered, almost begging. The dimly lit room was so bare that it easily carried his words across the room and past the glass cage that separated them.
The retired wheelchair-bound pro-hero started in his seat at the words.
"I'm just tired, so… so tired," Tōya said. The beeping to his right was deafening. It pissed him off fiercely, and that only caused the beeping to escalate in frequency as his heart rate spiked.
"I don't know if I can forgive you, but I— think I understand you." His eyes shifted as he forced the words out of his dry throat. "I did a lot of fucked up things, too."
The beeping only grew louder, it was getting harder to breathe, he felt faint. The god-forsaken machine couldn't even give him a break! What he wouldn't give to smash his last remaining charred hand into it, his condition couldn't get any worse.
"Tōya!" his wet blurry vision barely registered the old man as his father lunged for the window separating them. He could almost see the blurry figures of men and women rushing into his section of the room from the corner of his eye.
"Honestly, I don't think I'm capable of anything at this rate." His sandy chuckle scratched its way up his throat. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry too."
He said as he faintly heard the cries of his father, a bright light covered his vision before he closed his eyes for the last time.
Ah…
He really regretted not having cold soba with Shoto. The kid really was something. Awkward, sure, but that was excusable. His family was all kinds of fucked up, after all. But his little brother was a sweet kid. He should have stopped their father when he had the chance years ago.
When he saw that little boy on the ground puking his guts out, in that damn dojo.
As shameful as it was, all he felt then was blinding jealousy. Tōya hadn't said it, but he and his father were cut from the same cloth. His father had used them in his envy towards All Might and he allowed his father to abuse his baby brother for nearly the same reason.
He really was his father's son.
But no, Shoto was best of them, in this fucked up family… Ah, maybe—maybe in another life.
Beep— Beep– Be-
---
Beep— Beep— Beep
His eyes snapped open to that infuriating beeping. Could it really not give him a break? His eyelids felt caked and crusted over from lack of use. He strained against the metal skeleton, at this point it felt almost like a second skin. Who'd visit him this time? He morbidly wondered.
Except no… his body felt lighter than he had ever been used to as he jumped against the cushion of the bed with ease. He felt a tug on his forearm as he blearily looked up at the IV. his incredulous gaze shot off from the paper unicorns and flowers that adorned the walls and the crudely written sentence to his right.
'Sleepyhead, hurry up and get better.'
As he looked at those words, his heart started to accelerate and his breathing grew shallow. The cutesy tablet that always mocked him in his dreams and nightmares. The clarity made his face set into manic anger. Blood rushed past his ears and he was hyperventilating from it all.
No… breathe first… Take one and then another.
Shoto said that it was something that always calmed him down, after his one sided beat downs with Endeavor. His short wet chuckles reverberated around the room.
"Is this hell?" he asked the empty room, Tōya received no reply.
His head swiveled as he took in the details of the room. Cream colored walls, sterile ceiling, and blinding lights. There were several empty beds but he was the only patient. Tōya looked at the rough texture of the shiny transplanted skin, at the grey shirt and pants, the bare feet, just as raw as the rest of his body. He couldn't mistake this place, he knew where he was.
All for One's fucked up daycare. Spare little vessels for the so-called demon king in case Shigaraki bit the dust a little too early. He didn't trust the man to begin with and he certainly wouldn't trust him now.
Tōya shakily detached the IV needle, and lifted himself off the bed with fragile arms. His malnourished sixteen-year-old body shook from the strain of even getting up. But it was a damn sight better than his decrepit and most probably screwed adult body. He heaved himself up and used the IV stand as a cane, grasping at it with both hands for dear life.
Slowly leaning into it as if he were falling, Tōya pushed against the double doors of the exit. Barely stopping himself from tripping at the last minute. It all looked so vivid, so unlike his blotchy vision. The paper decorations, the bunny faces and the cardboard tree with all of the children's photographed faces crudely cut into place.
He couldn't help but stand and stare at the board of collaged images. The first time he was here, he was a headless chicken. Tōya was so focused on finding someone, anyone. All he could think about was getting home… He sprinted across the facility in a frenzy not taking a single detail into account.
But now he could see a camera at the end of the hall from his peripheral vision. How many people were watching on the other end? He easily burnt this place to the ground the first time.
Did anyone escape?
---
It took a moment but he found the classroom and it was just like he remembered. Sickly bright with pastel greens and yellows all over. His eyes burned at the sight of it all as he slowly looked through the glass window of the door.
He counted around fifteen children. Tōya let go of the IV stand as he quietly turned to look into the other rooms of the hallway. He found them all to be empty. Then, he made up his mind and opened the door to the classroom. The noise of the children slowly quieted down as he made his entrance. Clattering crayons and shuffling paper easily reached his ears.
"Look he's awake!" A girl with short brown hair exclaimed in surprise as she turned to look at him, raising a pointed finger.
"Hey it's Mr. Sleepyhead!" Another one with long black hair said, waving a hand that held a crayon.
On and on, more and more children stood up from their chairs as they crowded around him. He took an involuntary step back, as he looked at them. As he really looked at them. Now that he thought about it, what happened to them? Did he kill them all? If they survived the burning building, did they become a part of the Nomus? Or were they disposed of like unthinking quirk material?
He wouldn't put it past Garaki, the man was a sick bastard in his own way.
…But did it really matter?…
"Where am I?" he repeated to himself with morbid fascination, his clear blue eyes wide.
"This is where we live silly!" the brown haired girl almost yelled in excitement, balling up her hands into fists. He tilted his head as his gaze turned to her.
How could they be so innocent? Did they not see how fucked up he looked? Were they not afraid of his appearance?
In his absentmindedness he barely made out the "Doctor!" that was cried at the back of the cluster of children. The black haired girl he recognized from earlier turned away to notify one of All for One's men. His instincts kicked in as weaved between the mildly shorter children.
"Wait!" He said as he gently pulled her away from the door by the shoulders. "I'm— not too comfortable with strangers touching, I-I-I mean…" He ended his sentence without finishing it, as he fumbled for an excuse to make the girl stop.
His embarrassment must have shown through as he spoke. If only Spinner could see him now, he cringed at the thought. The little girl's face took on an almost comically stern expression as she nodded to him. His shoulders relaxed, as he turned to the rest of the kids.
"Could you guys explain to me what you're all doing here?" He asked softly.
"Mama and papa went away, and the good man took me in," said one of the boys with black spiky hair at its ends and a blue shirt.
"Papa hit me because I scared him," another girl with pigtails offered.
A boy with sharp ears and a black shirt also explained his reason for being taken in. It would seem that the goodness in All for One's heart compelled him to save these unfortunate souls.
An enigmatic benefactor, if only they knew the truth.
"Are you okay, Sleepyhead?" one of the smaller mutant type children said.
His short stature gave way to another, a taller kid with red hair, who finished his sentence, "You're making a scary face." he noted with interest.
"Am I?" Tōya asked as he lightly touched the corner of his lips. "Sorry… My name is Tōya Todoroki, my quirk is B—Hellflame. Could you tell me yours?"
He opened his clenched left hand as an offering, facing his palm up to the ceiling. The small orange flame radiated an unfeeling heat, it was focused above his index finger. Five seconds and it went out. He felt no pain but could see the darkening of his nearly untanned scarred skin.
It was pink now.
He heard the children's coos as they stared at the tiny orange and yellow flame.
"Right! My name is Hanako, and this is Miwa. My quirk is Spatial Distortion! It moves objects around the center of where I look but after a few minutes I get a whoozy and my head hurts…" The girl with black hair explained as she lifted her index finger up to her face with a pondering look.
The other girl, Miwa, went next. "My quirk is Eye Beam, I can shoot out a beam if I concentrate hard enough, but there are times where I can't control it. My mom didn't like my quirk, and said it was too scary." Her voice went to a quiet mumble in shame, eyes downcast.
After some prodding, one after the other the children loudly showed off their quirks. His eyebrows furrowed as each one showcased violent or impressive meta abilities. His mood darkened. Any parent would be happy to adopt a child with a "Heroic" quirk. To have so many in one location was too coincidental to be true.
But Tōya knew it was no coincidence, the big man didn't do anything without a reason.
Why question it?They don't matter to me.
I need to get home, get back to Dad and apologize to Mom for the things I said. We could try again and train! So I can beat All Might and become the number one hero!
Tōya faintly recalled the childish thoughts… He could just leave them, set this place to cinders once more. But every time he looked at them, he was reminded of that innocently curious heterochromic stare. Standing before him from beyond the glass barrier.
The door behind him creaked open, eerily so. He turned and locked eyes with the mutant heteromorph attendant— the kids' teacher? He almost mistook the cartoonish sun-like face for a mask were it not for the positioning of the ears and the facial hair.
"Who do we have here?!" the man's jolly, high pitched voice asked. The uniform and apron that he wore did nothing to hide his imposing figure. Bulging, tree trunk-like arms and legs, broad shoulders and a thick neck—the sight unnerved him now as it did the first time.
"My name is Tōya Todoroki, where am I?" he asked again, his eyes narrowed imperceptively. There wasn't a point in hiding who he was when he knew that All for One already had an extensive background check done on him.
How long had the big man been watching him?
"This is Sunnyside Haven House, your new home!" The attendant said. "You'll come to love this place as sure as the sun does rise!" Several of the children launched themselves at the behemoth of a man and swung from his arms and legs.
"...Of course I will." he spoke under his breath.
"And this will be your new family, just as loving as the caress of the morning sun!" the attendant said as he kneeled down to Tōya's eye level, setting down the children clinging to him. His cartoonish close-eyed stare involuntarily forced Tōya from torching the man for fear of mistakenly catching the kids in the crossfire.
He tilted his head down, as he responded. "And what if I want to leave?... Theoretically, of course. I'm starting to like it here!" he quickly added as he heard the protesting cries of the children behind the taller heteromorph.
"Well we can't have that, but I can let sensei know! If you'll come with me," the older man said in the same jolly tone, albeit trailing off so that he could hear the young man's response.
Tōya gave the children one last look before nodding and leaving with the older man past the door frame. They innocently waved back at him and he couldn't help but see Toga's face in their wide-eye smiles. And then the door closed shut, obscuring them from his view.
He was going to do something stupid wasn't he?
"How many caregivers are there? Mr…?"
"Sunny! But you can call me, Teacher—or Teach for short. There's just me and three others, Ms. Luna takes care of the cafeteria, Mr. Comet is the groundskeeper, and Mr. Saturn manages the infirmary."
He was leaving some information out, that was too short a response for even a child's curiosity. There had to be security guards and other personnel patrolling All For One's property.
How would he deal with them?
"And are they nice? I haven't had too many good experiences with adults," he added as he held his right arm in his grip. If he tried hard enough, he could imagine the phantom pain of the missing limb. His eyes downcast, testing his still recuperating digits.
"They're the nicest people!" Mr. Sunny said as he looked back at him. When they rounded the corner, he could see the hallway leading up to that room. The dingy sterile office room with the singular computer. But halfway there, he briefly turned away from it. Catching sight of a window and Tōya frowned at what he saw. It was dark out? What were the kids doing up so late?
The loud beep of the desktop made his head spin back to the small room. And its purple, taunting words made his teeth grind.
SOUND ONLY
"Ah, if it isn't the newest member of our family." He could hear the smug grin in All For One's voice. "Thank you, Haruaki, for bringing the young man in as soon as you could."
Mr. Sunny bowed a dozen times over.