Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Toji laid half asleep in his bed, twirling his hair between his fingers, deep in thought. The earpiece in his ears played old 80’s rap, and the temperature in his room was perfect. His bed felt comfortable as ever, and right as he was finally drifting off to sleep, the music coming from his earbud stopped. Toji was immediately awake, jumping out of bed to pull on his shoes. In his ear, where just seconds ago was music, was now a loud female voice speaking to him.

“The B-wing and the D-wing of the Academy have been breached. This is not a drill. Follow the protocol you’ve been taught. After this message, your Leaders will contact you. Follow their every direction to the tee.”

After the voice had finished, there was a loud beep, followed by a familiar voice talking through the earpiece.

“Group 1-E, get into your assigned training grounds within the next 3 minutes. Further instructions will be given there.”

Toji cursed the voice in his mind, picking up the speed at which he was running. He ignored the others running behind and in front of him, and focused on just getting there in time. The E-wing where he was placed was unbelievably huge, and as a first class student, his room was located the furthest from the training grounds. He passed some third class students, meaning he was over halfway there. When he finally reached the last of the fifth class students, he slowed down his run to a light jog, making sure the fifth classes were keeping up their pace.

He slowed his pace down until he was walking at a regular pace. He spotted the 1-E Leader standing tall with the rest of his group, looking around for the missing parts of his squad. When their eyes met, Toji gave him the coldest look he could. Neither of them turned their gaze away, and instead Toji just neared the tall man, eyes locked.

“Ishida, you’re just seconds early. At this high of a position I would expect you to be here before half of your time has passed,” said the man to Toji, who resisted saying something dumb. In this situation his ego was to be forgotten and the safety of the Academy was to be prioritized.

“I understand and apologize,” Toji said, bowing in front of the older man. Now was no time for arguments nor pride. Instead, now was the time for actions.

“Apology accepted. Now, get your gear on, and make sure it's all ranked 02 at the lowest.” After that, everyone, including their Leader, was on their way to the room full of weapons located at the back of the training ground.

Once Toji got there, he felt the rush of adrenaline. He quickly made his way to the knife section, where he picked up four of the same knife with his quirk, before moving on. Next up were a dozen throwing knives. He picked up all of them by touching them with his quirk active, and watched them disappear. Moving on from the knife selection, he chose an assault rifle, and 5 extra rounds for it. Last up he picked up 20 rounds of ammo for his personalized pistols.

Leaving the weapons room feeling much heavier, but also well prepared for tonight, he ran to his own locker. He summoned the key with his quirk, and unlocked the door. He rummaged through the sets of armor, settling on the 01 rated one. He pulled them on, before pulling out one of his pistols and the fine knife that were handcrafted just for him. He hung the knife on his hip, and loaded the pistol quickly. As last prep, he changed out his earpiece to a smaller, more durable and less visible one.

“Ishida here. I’m ready and waiting for permission to move.” Toji was always the first one to be ready.

“1-E Leader. Continue to D-wing of the academy, if you run into anyone suspicious looking, you know the protocol.”

Toji didn’t bother responding, he just picked up his speed, and ran towards the intended area. He kept his mind calm, forcing down any thought of doubt or uncertainty that wandered into his head. Breathe in, and breathe out. Again and Again.

Once he was close to the D-wing, he slowed his pace to walking. He kept his eyes peeled on his surroundings, making as little noise as he could. When there was a sudden noise up ahead, Toji nearly jumped out of his skin. With his gun in hand, Toji snuck up to the upcoming corner, and stood right against the wall. He looked around, before summoning his other pistol into his left hand, and walked from the safety of the corner. The three men were faced the other way, two of them crouched over something.

“Get your hands in the air. Drop your weapons or I’ll shoot,” Toji said, keeping his voice calm, yet serious. The men in front of him slowly turned around, to see Toji dressed in all black, with two pistols in hand facing them. The man who had been standing before they noticed Toji, raised his hands slowly. The other two men, slowly getting up from the crouching position, followed his lead, one of them dropping a gun, and kicking it a bit further away, careful not to upset Toji.

“Alright boy, no need to shoot, we’ll co-operate as long as you let us help this guy,” The man said, carefully nodding towards the body on the ground. Toji, prepared for a trap, didn’t move a muscle, knowing full well this could cause him his life.

“Get them up,” Toji instructed the men. “Any funny business and you’re dead.”

“I don’t think moving him is such a good idea, he's bleeding all over-” one of the men tried to say, before Toji cut him off with the double click of his pistols being loaded.

The man that talked earlier looked around at the others, before nodding at them. Toji’s body tensed, prepared for anything the three might do. His finger on the trigger, prepared to shoot at a seconds notice.

But unlike Toji had expected, two of the men crouched down, and carefully raised the body off the ground. Toji breathed in at the sight of the familiar turquoise hair and the round face, now stained in blood.

“Put him down and back up 10 meters. You have three seconds,” Toji instructed, even though his entire body was screaming to run to the boy they were holding, but he kept his brain unaffected.

“Do you know this boy?” The oldest of the men asked.

“Three,” Toji started the countdown.

“C’mon this boy needs help. Don't just act like you can’t be asked to save his life.” The man, now furious but keeping his voice low said.

“Two,” Toji continued.

“C’MON HE’S GOING TO DIE,” the previously silent man now yelled.

A shot. The man's face was shocked, and his shoulder, where Toji had hit him, started to bleed.

“One.”

The men lowered the body carefully, and backed up the wanted distance. Only once they had stopped, did Toji move. He lowered 90% of his attention to the boy lying on the ground, and with slightly shaky hands, he slapped the boy a few times. After that didn't work, he summoned a small syringe, and injected the clear liquid in it to the boy’s arm. He waited 10 seconds, after which, his face fell a tiny bit.

Toji was on the move immediately, and turned the boy to lie on his side, letting him breathe without the blood getting in the way. His breathing intensified, and he summoned his gun to his right hand. He lifted it up at the men, still standing there, with their hands up. Toji looked around, and quietly, made the gun disappear again. He let out a breath, and after just a second of hesitation, he picked up the boy over his shoulder.

He started backing up, one step after another. Not a second later, did he hear a step in the direction he was backing towards. Immediately, the boy over his shoulder was on the floor, and the assault rifle loaded in his hands. He turned around, and let the gun do its work, seconds before they were surrounded by a ball of flames. Toji cursed out loud at the sudden heat. His armor could protect him, but the other boy was lying on the ground, with no kind of armor on. The flames stopped as soon as they had started, and Toji raised the rifle at whoever was behind those flames.

To no surprise, he recognized the man behind those flames.

“Endeavor!” He greeted the man, whose face did not tell anything.

“Who are you?” The man asked, not letting on any kind of emotion.

“Nobody you should be worried about,” Toji shrugged.

Right as the man was about to release another ball of flames, Toji fired his rifle. For a few seconds, nothing. And after that, the big man fell down, looking quite, well- dead.

“Who’s up next?” Toji asked the people who were clearly summoned by the three men, still behind him. He was breathing heavily, and his face was twisted by anger. He made the rifle in his hands disappear, and the two guns he specialized in were back on the menu.

Before anyone had time to move, there was a loud cough from beneath Toji. He glanced down, and saw the boy, clearly in pain but somehow conscious.

“Hey dude, I’m fine-,” interrupted by a coughing fit, the boy wasn’t super convincing, and the anger inside of Toji was about to boil over. He turned to the three men, Guns readied, breathing so loud the entire hallway could hear.

“You fuckers-,” Toji said, trigger finger twitching.

“Don’t,” the boy beneath him said. Toji stopped, his body completely frozen. He let his eyes run from one man to the next, biting his lower lip.

“Why shouldn’t I?” Toji breathed heavily. Right as he was about to fire his gun, there was a voice in his ear piece.

“Ishida, hold down the D-wing. I’ve sent reinforcements in to kill the traitor and catch the rest.”

“The traitor?” Toji asked, his eyes widening. Who the fuck?

“Weren’t you informed? He’s- well, what's his face? The blue haired kid anyways.”

Toji looked down at his feet, seeing the boy lying there. He swallowed hard. Nothing was real anymore. The boy, now passed out again, looked so peaceful. When the world felt like it had stopped, the only thing snapping him out of the thoughts crashing to his brain was a heavy hand being placed on his shoulder. When he snapped his eyes up, he realized he had let his guns down. He stared at the new man that had appeared just to place his hand on his shoulder.

“We’ve got to go. You decide if you're coming with us.”

Toji watched in horror, as the men picked up the blue haired boy, and spoke something into the machine in their hand, while backing out of the corridor as fast as they could. As Toji heard the noises of the backups behind him. With shaky hands, he raised the gun on his right hand and shot.

Chapter Text

Toji woke up to see an unfamiliar ceiling. He blinked a few times, before closing his eyes again. He counted to ten, before forcing his eyes open, and getting up on the bed. He looked around at the room he was sitting in, a bit confused at his surroundings. This wasn't where he fell asleep.

The room was clean, with shades of light blue and a nice dark brown. The bed he was lying in had comfortable dark blue sheets, and a mattress that made Toji feel like he was sinking. He had never been in a bed this nice, and all he wanted was to fall back and sink into the mattress.

Instead of that, Toji got up and looked in the mirror placed next to the bed. His hair was a mess, but he was still wearing the same clothes he had been wearing under his equipment before. The armor he found at the top of a chair, and just made it disappear with the touch of his hand. Now the only thing missing was his long black tactical knife he always wore at his hip in combat.

As he was putting on his shoes, he cursed in his mind, knowing it would be a while until he got that knife back. He walked to the door of the room, taking in a quick breath before opening it. Outside the door, there was an empty hallway, ending in stairs. He walked as quiet as he could, cursing the flooring when it made a sound.

He slowly walked down the stairs, looking around him whilst getting to the lower floor. The lights everywhere else but the kitchen were off. He neared the kitchen, now gun in hand. In the kitchen, there was a man with long black hair, dressed in only gray sweatpants, who turned at the click of the gun, hair now floating in the air and eyes glowing red. Once he registered the situation, he raised his hands, his hair fell back down and the red glow disappeared from his eyes that were now as black as Tojis.

“Where is he?” Toji asked, voice trembling with suppressed anger.

“He’s in good care. We can go see him in the morning, but for now you need your rest,” the man said in a calm voice, almost like he was talking to a dog that was ready to attack.

Toji stood still, trying to control his anger. A true soldier doesn't let their emotions control them. That was the truth he was raised with. And that was what he knew to be true. He was about to speak again, but sensed movement right behind him. When he turned, a strong fist met his face. The hit was hard enough to make Toji fall. He lost grip of his gun, and even before it had time to hit the ground, it had been snatched by the blonde man who apparently had been the one to hit him.

Quickly the man backed away, gun in hand, aimed at Toji.

“Alright, don’t move. We can do this peacefully as long as you cooperate,” The blonde told him.

Toji looked at the man, then down at his feet.

“If you think that that can kill me, I wish I was as naíve as you. Maybe, if in my heart even I believed that thing could kill me, I might just die,” he said, with a slightly sad smile across his face.

“I don't care about your mind games. Put your hands up or I’ll shoot,” the blonde responded.

“Hold on, I just gotta do something,” He said, and in just a second, his shirt was now gone.

“Now, go on and shoot me,” Toji asked kindly.

Instead, the man dropped his gun, staring at Toji. He scrunched his eyebrows, wondering what had happened to make the man drop his guard.

“Hizashi.” Toji heard behind himself, he spun to face the man whose face was now- well- strange.

Toji just stood there, not sure of what to do, after all this was a strange kitchen, in a strange house, owned by strange people with strange looks on their faces. He only turned when he heard something drop on the floor. He looked over his shoulder to see the man holding a hand over his mouth, the gun now on the floor. It made something click in Toji’s brain, and he had his gun out, aimed at the blonde man.

He slowly approached the man who was still staring at him, gun stable as ever. Once close enough, he pressed the gun against the blonde's forehead, leaning closer to whisper into the man's ear: “Move one part of your body and your brains are out of your head.” With that he leaned down to quickly grab the gun off the floor, moving back immediately after the gun had disappeared after touching it. After the men didn't react to anything, just kept staring at Toji, he finally lost his temper.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” Toji screamed at the blonde with the gun still in hand. “YOU STARE AT ME LIKE I'M A ZOO ANIMAL AND FOR WHAT? FOR FUCKIG WHAT?!” Toji got closer to the blonde man, who seemed to be a bit in shock.

The two men exchanged looks, before the black haired one spoke.

“We’ll take you to your friend if that's what you want. But before that you have to give us every weapon you have on you.”

“And you think I’ll trust you? I don’t know how dumb you think I am but I’ll be dead before you’ll get my weapons,” The boy spat out.

The man got closer to him, with a threatening look in his eyes.

“I trusted you with letting you into my house. You’ve been unconscious for the past 22 hours, so you can be damn sure if we wanted to hurt you, you’d be long dead.”

Toji stood there for a bit, looking from one man to the other. He bit his lip, before dropping the guns he was holding, and on top of them, he placed an assault rifle he had summoned.

“Take them then,” He said, biting his teeth. The black haired man nodded, taking it from his hands carefully.

“Alright can we go now?” Toji asked, seeming like he was in a hurry.

“Give us the rest of them,” it was the blonde's turn to speak.

“Fuck your mother,” Toji muttered, but summoned four knifes to his hands, grimacing at the man when he took them.

“Any more you’ve got?” The dark haired man spoke again. When Toji shook his head, the man handed the rifle to the blonde, and whispered something in his ear. He nodded, hurrying off with the weapons in hand.

The dark haired man now turned to Toji again. “Put your shirt on, it’s going to be cold outside.” As soon as the man was done, he walked into the direction the blonde had gone.

Toji felt frustrated. There was something else in the mix of feelings, but he didn’t know how to describe it. There was like a swirling pit in his stomach, and he felt uneasy. He stood in an unknown house, with complete strangers, without the comfort of his weapons. The more he thought, the more uneasy he felt.

The swirlpool in his stomach did not get any better once the two men were back. They took Toji outside, and the blonde even offered him a jacket that he refused. They got in the car, the dark haired man drove, and the blonde got in the back with Toji. They were aware of his every movement, like waiting for him to pull out a gun.

The drive went by silently, no one even trying to make conversation. Toji tried his best to calm down the horrible feeling in his stomach, but failed horrendously. Eventually, the car stopped in front of a white building with huge windows. Toji could count at least 4 layers on the building. He got out of the car, looking up at the tall building in front of him.

“He’s here right?” He asked, to which the men on both sides of him just nodded. He disliked how close they were to him, but just bit his tongue, knowing it would be over soon. When they walked in from the glass doors, Toji was amazed at the amount of people there.

Once they were in the elevator, the blonde pressed the number 3 button. The elevator didn't move an inch, but in a second, an unfamiliar voice spoke.

“Please state your business,” The voice asked, slightly distorted by the elevator speaker.

“Come on Tsukauchi, you know what business we have here,”

After a moment of silence, the elevator moved, and Toji could feel the strange feeling in his stomach. He hadn’t been in an elevator in a long time.

Once the door opened Toji was faced with a huge room, with some hallways leaving it. The two men he was with showed him to a red couch to sit on, and sat both sides of him, exchanging nervous looks every once in a while. Toji tried to focus on anything but the feeling in his stomach, but as expected, it didn’t do anything.

After a minute or so of waiting, a black haired man walked out of one of the hallways on the left side of the room. He came up to them, and exchanged a few words with the men first. They spoke in a low voice, and Toji really couldn't be asked to listen in. After they were done, the man turned to Toji.

“And here we have the main character himself,” he said, and Toji was looking for the sarcasm in his voice. “Follow me if you would.”

Toji walked behind the man, a strange feeling in his gut. He was afraid they weren’t going to see the blue haired boy. But now was too late to turn back, and this was the closest he had been to some sort of a clue of the boy's location.

They walked into a normal looking room, with just a strange layout of the furniture. The room was empty except the one wooden chair in the middle, and the two chairs placed in front of it, about 3 meters of distance between them and the first chair. The situation started to sink in and panic started to fill Toji’s mind. This had been a trap.

The final piece to the puzzle came just a second too late, along with the sound of the door clicking shut. Toji forced his brain to work. He turned towards the door carefully, and saw two armored men, in between of whom, stood a tall man with a dog's head.

“Tsuragamae,” Toji said slowly. “If this was your plan I swear, I’m coming after your family.”

“Well, what a first impression,” he barked out a laugh. “So you’re the troublemaker who nearly killed Endeavor, huh. What a guy.”

Toji chose to keep his mouth shut. This man had been one of his targets for the entire year and a half he had been allowed to go on missions. He knew this man's family and rhythm of breath, but this man didn’t know Toji even existed. Laughable, really.

“So, let’s start. Tsukauchi, if you would,” the man held out his hand pointing at the chairs next to him.

The man with short black hair sat down, and Tsuragamae sat down next to him. The human headed man pulled out a notebook and a pen, before nodding at the other.

“So, if you could, first state your name,” the dog asked Toji.

“Ishida,” Toji simply responded.

“Your full name please.”

“And what would you do with that info? My name isn’t in any of the registers you wanted to check,” Toji smiled slightly. This was not a conversation he was willing to lose.

“Well, to know what to call you, for one.”

“Well you can call me Ishida, so that problem is solved,” Toji said, annoyed at the man.

“I hope you understand that this isn’t an interrogation.”

“Like hell it isn’t,” Toji spits out. His frustration is rising and he knows if things don't change soon it’ll get violent.

“This is simply a safety check, to make sure you won’t be a danger to anybody,” Tsuragamae finished his sentence in spite of being interrupted by Toji.

Toji mutters something like ‘your mothers a whore’ under his breath, but if anybody heard it, they ignored it blatantly.

“So, to get to the point of this conversation, I’ll ask you a few questions,” Tsuragamae said. “Don’t even try to lie, Tsukauchi here will know.”

Toji rolled his eyes, ready for the dumbest questions he’d ever heard.

”Fuck it I guess. Shoot,” Toji shrugged, trying to act calmer than he was.

”Alright then, please answer each question truthfully,” Tsugarumae told him.

”First and foremost, the most important question. Do you have a gun on you at this moment?”

”No,” Toji asked truthfully. A thumbs up from the black haired man confirmed it to be true.

”How about a knife? Do you have one on you?”

”No,” Toji answered, just waiting for this to be over.

”Lie,” The black haired man, tsukauchi said.

The man with long blond hair, whose existence Toji had already forgotten about, stepped forward and put out his hand, waiting for something.

“If you think I’m giving you fuckers any more of my weapons you can forget it,” Toji spat out. He was annoyed and frustrated at being trapped in this room, wishing he never woke up.

“If that’s the case, I don't think there is any point in continuing. Just know this means you will not be able to meet your friend,” Tsukauchi sighed out.

Toji got up in his anger and walked up to the door. He closed his eyes, breathed a deep breath. His hand had nearly reached the handle, when he changed his mind. He turned around, walked up to Tsuragamae, and before anyone had time to react, a long black knife was in his hand. He stabbed the knife in with all his might.

He stood back, extremely aware of the guns now pointed in his direction. He let out a shaky breath, and looked in the eyes of frightened Tsuragamae. The knife, at least 10 centimeters deep in the wall right next to the man, had done its job.

Once Toji had calmed down a bit, he turned around and sat back down on the chair set for him.

“We can continue. You’ve got the knife now.” Toji’s voice was calm, but his eyes flamed with suppressed anger.

The room was silent for a minute, before the black haired man whose name Toji wasn’t sure of spoke up.

“One more of those and you’ll be dead,” He said blandly, with no sign of fear or shock in his voice.

“I’d like to see you try,” Toji snorted, but to his disappointment, the man didn’t move. Instead, he just bluntly said: “Careful what you wish for.”

Before Toji had time to get angry again, they were cut off by Tsukauchi’s cough.

“So, as Eraser said, if you pull another stunt we have no option but to kill you. That being said, could we continue with this so we can all get on with our lives.”

“Sure thing, no more knives, no more guns, no more murder attempts or I will be killed. This sounds like a fair enough operation.”

“So, we come to the last question,” Tsuragamae ignored Toji’s words. “Do you have anything that could kill us?”

Toji snorted at the dumb question. “Of course I do. Do you think i would be here if i didn’t”

“Truth,” Tsukauchi confirmed Toji’s statement.

“Okay. Please state every object you have on you that could kill us.” Tsuragamae said to Toji.

“Sure, first and foremost, my hands.”

Everyone in the room was quiet for a second, before Tsuragamae audibly laughed.

“Come on kid, don't try that shit here. We all know you're full of-”. Before Tsuragamae had time to finish his sentence, Tsukauchi cut him off.

“Truth,” he simply stated, and to Toji’s satisfaction, it made Tsuragamae shut his mouth.

“In more specific, I would make it out injured but it’s nothing that could kill me. Once I had killed the armed men, it would be easy to take all of you out, with or without their guns. And after that I would go back and hopefully not get punished for leaving, since I killed a few of Their targets,” Toji explained like it should’ve been obvious to everyone in the room.

“Most of that was true. I can't tell for sure from the speculation,” Tsukauchi was making his plan even more waterproof. He was starting to like this guy.

“So you have the option now, of either taking me to that boy, or dying within 60 seconds,” Toji set out the conditions. “I’m giving you a minute to decide.”

Toji leaned back on the chair, feeling in control again. This was one of his most polished skills, besides his unmatched physical strength and combat ability. Gaining control of the situation, no matter how unmatched it may have seemed. He closed his eyes, as the volume of the conversations in the room rose.

Toji sat, and he thought. He didn't care what they were talking about. Either option for Toji was just the routine procedure. Killing itself did not provide him any pleasure, but he couldn't argue with the fact that it got the job done. As far as he knew, no one had walked off a bullet to the head yet.

As the seconds passed in Toji's head, the conversations in the room got more heated. After 53 seconds had passed, Toji opened his eyes, to see the two guards pointing their guns at him, and the four other men still discussing what to do with him.

“Five,” Toji said, without even raising his voice. Immediately the men's eyes were on him, looking over the boy that was now leaning back on his chair.

“Four.” The man, Eraser, as Tsukauchi called him, stepped close to Toji.

“We’ve come to a conclusion,” Eraser said to him.

“Sure, go on,” Toji said, leaning forward on the chair.

“You’ll get to see him.”

“Okay great. Was that worth almost risking your life for?” Toji laughed.

“But you’re going to have to prove you’re useful to us,” Eraser finished.

It earned a smile from Toji. He just tilted his head to the side, before saying: “sure!”

The second the word left his mouth, he was on the move. In a few steps he was at one of the guards, whose gun was pointed at Toji, but they were frozen from fear. The aura Toji emanated wasn't of a teenager anymore. This. This was a killer.

Once Toji had made it to the guard in just a split second, he grabbed them by their head, and looked straight into the eyes of Tsuragamae, as he smashed the head of the guard straight into the wall of the room. The blood splattered onto Toji, and the remaining pieces of plastic (and the guard's head) in Toji's hand were quickly discarded to the ground.

Toji wiped his hands on his pants, while walking towards Tsuragamae. His steps were calculated and bold, making sure everyone saw the blood splattered onto him. Once he got to Tsuragamae, he leaned in and whispered into the man’s ear: “I’m not gonna play your fuckass games Kenji. Take me to that boy or your head will be the next one to get crushed.”

The man took a deep breath, and held it in for a second. When he finally breathed out it seemed like the decision had been made. “Fine, I’ll take you there,” he let out. Toji genuinely thought for a second the man had swallowed a razor blade based on how painful those words seemed to say.

”Show me the way, sir,” Toji said with the last word dripping with irony.

Chapter Text

Toji was standing behind the door behind which laid the boy he so greatly loved. He took a deep breath, and opened the door.

In the room he saw a doctor and two guards, but his attention wasn’t on them. Instead, his eyes were glued to the boy in the bed. His turquoise hair messy as ever, and his eyes peacefully closed. Toji stepped closer, holding his breath, like the boy was too fragile to handle even his breath. He let his rough hand grace the boy's face, and a look of relief took over his face.

When he finally straightened his back and looked at the doctor. ”What's his state?” He asked her with a calm voice.

”Well, we’ve had to keep him sedated, as he had a lot of procedures done, including skin grafts on the worst burnt areas, healing of broken bones on his arms and ribs and some treatments on the-”, her lips tightened and she let the last words hang in the air.

”You can say it. They’re wounds from his punishments, that were basically torture,” Toji said, not showing any emotion on his face.

Someone behind Toji cleared their throat and Toji tensed up immediately. ”That's actually why we brought you here too. Your back has to be looked at,” said the voice he recognized to be of the man with the long black hair. Eraser, as the others called him.

”It’s fine.” It wasn't Toji being polite. He did not need more people to stare and wonder what the fuck was wrong with him.

A heavy hand placed on his shoulder. ”It was not a request. Someone is going to look at it,” Eraser said, before Toji had time to shake off his hand.

The doctor that had been following them, lips still pursed, spoke up now. ”How about this; We stop administering the drug keeping this boy sedated, and while he's waking up we look at your wounds?”

Toji thought for just a second, before nodding. As the doctor was talking to the nurse that had just entered the room, he sat down on the chair the doctor pointed to, taking off his shirt and making it vanish into thin air.

He could feel the stares on him, and the air in the room tensing when he turned around on the chair to reveal the skin on his back. Well, the skin left on his back. Really, it was mainly scar tissue and wounds that were in different stages of their healing process. He grit his teeth, waiting for the doctor to just get it over with.

When she finally was done, she changed her gloves before taking a look at Toji’s back. She hummed for a moment, before Toji felt her warm hands on his back. The fingers on his back made Toji tense up, but after a moment of her just calmly going through each of his wounds he let his shoulders fall a bit.

“Does this hurt?” She asked, gracing one of the more recent wounds.

“Not really,” Toji answered truthfully. She just hummed again, giving all her attention to his back again. After a few minutes, she moved further from him.

“Are there more of these?” She asked Toji, who just shrugged, not especially keen on stripping more in front of people who were willing to attack him at any moment. He felt the doctor's eyes on his back, they both knew there were more, but neither of them said it. The deep silence in the room was broken by a cough behind them, and suddenly Toji was on his feet, knocking the chair down with his fast movements, but he didn’t even notice. The boy was now awake.

—

Toji stood next to the bed as the doctor finally removed the boy from the machine keeping his breathing stable. He was avoiding looking at the boy’s eyes. Although they were clouded by the sedatives and medications, they still looked at Toji, blaming him. Before the boy could speak, Toji quickly summoned his shirt and threw it on, still refusing to look the other in the eyes.

“You lied.” The words were like a punch to the gut. He grit his teeth, keeping his eyes tightly on the collar of his hospital gown.

“TOJI YOU FUCKIGN LIED,” the boy yelled at his face. Toji took a breath in, resetting the emotions on his face.

“Kashino, I’m warning you,” he said with the most formal voice he could.

“FUCKING LOOK AT ME, YOU PRICK. YOU FUCKING LIED,” the boy yelled again, trying to get up from his bed, but suddenly he gasped in pain and fell back onto the bed. As he was gasping for breath, the doctor was quickly on the move. She held the struggling boy down, whilst the nurse got the oxygen mask onto his face. When the boy could breathe normally again the doctor let go of the boy.

“If you don’t stay calm and still we will have to sedate you again,” She said bluntly. The boy opened his mouth to resist, but instead, took a deep breath in, before nodding as a sign of understanding.

“Toji please. At least look me in the eyes,” the boy begged. Toji finally raised his eyes to meet the boy's eyes. Silence fell for a second before Toji spoke up. “Could you kindly leave the room,” he asked, turning to the men that had been staring at him since they entered the room.

“I agree. The fewer people in this room, the better,” the doctor agreed, and it seemed like Toji wasn’t the only one surprised by the statement. Tsuragamae's mouth was left hanging open for a second, before he spoke up. “Absolutely not. We can’t leave our most valuable information source alone with that thing,” he said, absolutely flabbergasted at the idea.

“I can assure nothing will happen here. If he tries anything I’ll be sure to immobilize him.”

“But Miss Ieiri, you can't possibly comprehend his strength. He killed one of our best guards in seconds. You can’t possibly put up a fight against him,” He stated, which made the woman's eyes light up.

“Are you saying I’m not at that level?” She asked him, and even before he had the time to answer, she continued. “If you don’t leave, I will.”

“Miss Ieiri, why do you feel the need to make this harder than it should be? If it’s because these kids I can assure-”, she did not give him the time to finish.

“This isn't about them, this is about your disrespect towards me, and towards the rest of the female staff here for that matter. Could you take the gentlemen to the waiting room?” The last words she pointed at the nurse, who simply nodded, opening the door for the men. Tsuragamae glanced at the doctor for the last time, before hesitantly leaving, the rest of the men following.

Once the men were out of the room and the door closed behind them, Toji nodded at the woman as a thank you before turning his gaze at the boy lying in the bed again. “Listen Daisuke, I’m sorry,” He apologized.

“That doesn’t take away the fact that you lied to me,” Daisuke answered coldly.

“Come on, you know They punish you for everything, you knowing wouldn’t make any difference” Toji tried to get off the hook easier, but Daisuke was smarter than that.

“That’s not it Toji. You took parts of my punishments didn’t you?” Toji couldn’t say anything, the boy was right. The silence told Daisuke everything he needed to hear. “I fucking knew it, I knew they weren’t just letting me off easier for ‘being young’ or some bullshit. You were getting beat up for that twice as hard.”

“What was I supposed to do Dai, they were beating you half to death in there;” Toji pleaded with the boy.

“Like you got off any easier,” Daisuke said quietly.

“Listen, the deal was that you get only two thirds of the punishment and I take the rest as long as I don't get into more trouble. It was nothing compared to you, really,” Toji was now begging the boy to understand him.

“That's why you haven’t dyed your hair recently isn’t it?” He said, still quiet. Toji just nodded silently. After a moment of Daisuke processing the info he had just gotten, he swallowed hard.

“Toji, you need to understand. In this world there's nothing I can trust but you. You can't lie to me, you can’t,” The boy shook his head. “Can you leave for a while. I want to sleep.” It wasn't a request, Toji knew that. He just nodded, ruffling the boy's hair quickly, before leaving the room.

After the room's door was closed. Toji fell into the nearest chair, resting his head in his hands. From the corner of his eye he saw the doctor leave the room, quickly after the nurse had returned, but was too tired to even raise his head to nod at her. He just sunk deeper into his hands. He stayed there, losing track of time till he felt a tap on his shoulder. When he raised his gaze, to his surprise it was the doctor that was taking care of Daisuke.

“You look like you could use this,” she said, handing him a reusable cup. “Black coffee seems to do the trick for me usually.”

“Thanks,” Toji said, taking a sip. Even though it slightly burned his mouth, it felt really good. He let out a deep sigh, contemplating everything that's happened in the day so far. He really needed a cigarette.

“Where can I smoke in here?” He asked the woman, who just signed him to follow. She led him to the nearest elevator, and they made it to the highest floor in silence. Just one more flight of stairs and they were on the rooftop.

“It’s the best place to smoke. There’s no one else here and you can actually see something from up here,” she explained, to which Toji just nodded. He summoned a pack of cigarettes and a lighter to his hand, opening the pack and pulling out a cigarette. He lit it between his lips, and breathed the poison in. Next to him, the doctor did the same.

“So, Ieiri, right?” Toji asked the woman.

“Ieiri Shoko,” she told him, offering her hand.

“Ishida Toji,” He finally introduced himself to her, shaking the offered hand.

“I couldn’t be more grateful for having an actual doctor take care of Daisuke for once.”

“Do you not have a doctor where you come from?” she asked him.

Toji shook his head, sighing. “He just heals the deadly wounds. I’ve been taking care of his worse wounds, but it's hard while I’m trying to stay alive too.”

“I can only imagine,” Ieiri said, blowing out the smoke from her lungs. “Who really did that to you two?”

Toji laughed like it was a lighthearted joke, but she could hear the bitterness in his laugh. “Better question is who didn’t,” he shook his head. “When you stick out, everyone’s out to get you. You just gotta take it and get stronger than they are.”

Ieiri nodded, not asking more questions, just contemplating what she had just heard. Toji took another sip of his coffee, which had now cooled to a nice temperature. He stared down at the ground, and the people entering and leaving the building, completely unaware of the fact that they were being observed.

“Y’know, I’m in debt to you ,” Toji said, startling the woman next to him. “You saved Daisuke's life and even got those assholes to leave the room for us to talk in peace.”

She shrugged, like it was nothing at all. “I’m just doing my job. And when it comes to the ‘assholes’, they're really not that bad. Eraser and Mic are heroes and very good ones at that. Tsukauchi is an excellent detective and I appreciate him a lot for that. It’s just Tsuragamae that ruins the whole team,” she told him.

“Yeah, he really is just a power hungry cop. Like most of them,” he agreed with her.

“You know Tsuragamae?” She asked him casually.

“You’re trying to get info out of me aren’t you,” Toji laughed lightheartedly, taking another long breath from his cigarette.

“You know I’m not inclined to tell anyone anything you tell me. Pros of the job,” She answered him. They were silent for a minute, before Toji spoke up again.

“I’ve been assigned to keep an eye out on him. He’s been a target since he got any power, so even before I was allowed to go out on mission,” Toji explained. He wasn’t sure why he was trusting a woman he had just met, but she had saved Daisuke's life, so he could do nothing but trust her.

He stumped the cigarette, waiting for Ieiri to do the same, before they made their way back inside. In the elevator, Toji crossed his arms over his chest, suddenly feeling quite hungry. When they got to the 3rd floor, he quickly said his last thanks to Ieiri, before trying to find his way to the canteen.

When he finally did find the canteen, his hunger had risen to a level where it was hard to ignore. He looked at the pastries in the window, wishing he had any money on him. Not that he couldn’t handle starving, it's just that one of the filled baguettes in the window looked like something Toji would have for the last meal of his life.

A creak of a shoe alerted Toji to danger approaching him. He spun around, ready to fight anyone that was trying to sneak up on him. He didn't let his tense pose down even after recognizing the person approaching as the man named Eraser who had been one of the men interrogating him.

”What do you want,” Toji asked, looking for any sign of hostility in the man. But the man just raised his arms to show he wasn’t trying to hurt Toji.

”You happen to look quite hungry,” he stated, slowly letting his arms fall into the pockets of his sweatpants. ”Do you want something from there?” He nodded towards the window where the delicious looking baguette still sat.

Toji had to resist his hunger. He couldn't trust this man. He must not his guard down just for a fucking baguette. But then again, it was a damn good looking baguette.

”You’ll pay right?” Toji asked.

Chapter Text

After they sat down at an empty table, Toji bit into the bread. Only once he got the first bite, did he realize how long it had been since he last ate. And he had been right- the baguette was damn delicious.

Only once Toji had eaten half of his meal did the man break the silence between them. ”I’m so glad I finally got to talk to you outside of the formalities. My name's Aizawa Shota, it’s truly a pleasure to meet you.”

Toji just raised his eyebrows, continuing to stuff his face. When the boy didn’t answer anything, the man- Aizawa, continued to talk. ”I probably shouldn't say this, but I am so sorry about the interrogation today. Tsuragumae insisted on making sure you were- well, safe I suppose.”

Toji swallowed the last bite of the baguette, before locking eyes with the man. ”So my question still stands. What exactly do you want from me?”

The man went a bit awkward, and thought for a second. ”Well, you see- There's a project I happen to be a big part of, which I'm hoping to get you interested in.”

Toji, who still was staring at the man's black eyes, paused for a second. ”What’s in it for me?”

”Well, we will provide you with everything you need, and a contract can be negotiated with whatever hero agency you choose to sign at,” He said, not avoiding eye contact as Toji had hoped.

”So let's get this clear: you want me to become a hero and a part of some fuckass project?” Toji asked, voice dripping with disgust.

”If you want to put it that way, then sure. Do you want to hear more?” He asked the boy, whose face was now a mix of amusement and disbelief at the man’s audacity.

”Not happening,” Toji had decided as soon as he heard the word ’hero’ enter the conversation. Sure, he was a hypocrite, but not to that level.

”Your other option is a life sentence at Tartarus, but that decision is of course yours,” Aizawa answered him, his expression not twitching.

”Or I simply refuse both. Ever thought about that?” Toji grinned at the man, like it was the easiest thing to do. The man sighed, looking at the boy with serious eyes.

“I want you to understand the consequences of today's behaviour. You’ve just killed a man, that’s one of the most serious crimes you can commit in Japan,” He said, every bit of lightheartedness gone from his voice.

“I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again, there isn't really anything you can do to stop me,” Toji said, matching the man’s serious tone.

“Do you enjoy killing?” Aizawa asked him suddenly. It caught Toji a bit off guard.

“I’m not sure. I don’t suppose I do. It’s just something I do,” Toji shrugged it off, earning a thoughtful nod from Aizawa.

“You know, you’re not a lost cause. I’m willing to put my life on the line to prove that to be true,” He stared into Toji's eyes, trying to get any reaction from the boy.

Toji simply laughed and shook his head, getting up from the chair. He took the last sip of his coffee that was already cooler than he would’ve liked. “It was a pleasure talking to you, Aizawa Shota.”

The man clenched his jaw, looking down at the table in deep thought. Before Toji had time to disappear, the man talked again.

“I talked to Kahlon.”

It made Toji spin around on his heels, walking back up to Aizawa. He grabbed the man by his collar, pulling him up from the chair, knocking down the chair in the process. He breathed heavily in Aizawa's face, now clearly upset.

“Where did you get that name,” he hissed at the man.

“Why won’t you sit down so we can discuss your options again,” the man responded calmly.
“If you don’t let me down, you’re going to get kicked out.”

Toji thought for a split second, before letting go of the man. The muscles on his neck were the only implication the boy was now furious, his face calmer than ever. He sat down on the chair he had left only seconds earlier. Before saying anything, he leaned forward on the table.

“You know, I have a bomb on me. A bomb strong enough to kill the both of us. So it’d be in both of our interests to talk this through.”

“No need for the threats, I’m more than willing to talk, the question just is if you are,” the man simply said, to which Toji rolled his eyes.

”I’m willing to talk. It does not include me signing up to be your guinea-pig in some stupidass project just so you can get some twisted pleasure out of watching me do whatever you wish,” Toji spat out.

”Woah there, I think you're misunderstanding. This project is just to rehabilitate villains and prisoners to live their life as normal citizens again, I think you could profit from it” Aizawa explained patiently.

”And which one would I be considered? A villain or a prisoner? Because if you ask me, I don't qualify as either,” Toji raised an eyebrow at the man.

“Well, technically you don't qualify as a prisoner yet, as you haven’t been sentenced for your earlier behaviour. And I can't say you’re a villain, since I haven't seen you commit any crimes out in the streets. But I do think you are a perfect candidate for the program, based on your behaviour and strength,” He explained to Toji.

Toji thought for a minute about the offer. “Why exactly would I join the program? Give me one good reason, and I’ll join without complaining too much.”

“Well that’s great news, because I do have a good reason for you to join,” Aizawa said. “Well you see, I was talking to Kahlon about UA and he agreed to join the second year hero course there. And this project is affiliated with UA, and takes place on UA’s grounds. So, it would be a great way for you to still spend time with Kahlon while focusing on your own thing.”

Toji was silent. He thought long and hard about why the hell Daisuke would want to join the hero course. They couldn't be heroes, right?

“I’ll have to ask Daisuke first.”

—

“YOU’RE GOING TO FUCKING UA? DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT-” Toji screamed at Daisuke, who was looking ticked off.

“Can you not yell? It hurts my head,” Daisuke asked dryly.

“Fine, I won't yell, as long as you explain what the fuck was going through your head. Do you understand what that means Dai? Do you understand what they’ll do to you if they find out your past?” Toji begged the boy to say something that would give him the relief he was looking for.

Daisuke sighed long. “Toji let me be very clear. I will go to UA. If you can’t accept that, I’m sorry but that's your loss. I’ve got to find a way to be useful, even if it means becoming the evil we were taught to fear.”

“Dai- I just- I’m worried. How will they treat you? What will they do to you? I don’t want to lose you Dai, I love you,” Toji said, trying any way he could to turn Daisuke’s full attention towards him.

“Listen Toji. I love you too, but I can't just live in the shadow of what I’ve been taught. I need to live my life Toji, and you should too,” Daisuke said with a calm voice, clearly trying to get through to him.

Toji just shook his head, letting it sink into his hands, wishing there was someone that could tell him the right thing to do, or the right way to go.

“They offered me a spot at UA too. Not at the school, but at the rehabilitation project powered by UA,” Toji said, his head still pressed deep into his hands.

“But that’s great news Toji! We can both be at the campus and still go our own ways. Do you understand what kind of an opportunity this is?” Daisuke said excitedly, and Toji hummed, but he didn’t feel any more confident in the decision. It all felt like too much, and he wished to just sink into the floor, or maybe stop existing.

But before he could do that, there was a knock on the door, before Aizawa entered the room carefully.

“So Ishida, have you made your decision?” He asked Toji. Toji had not made the decision, but in his heart he knew what to do.

“Where Daisuke goes, I go. That's simply my duty.” Toji said before letting a dumb smile onto his face. “After all, he's my brother.”

Chapter Text

Toji woke up in the hospital chair. He had no idea what the time was, but it was still dark outside. He tried to look for his phone, but it wasn't in his pockets. He looked around, standing up from the uncomfortable chair. He looked at Daisuke, who was sleeping peacefully in his bed. He stood next to his brother's bed, carefully raising his hand to grace the boy's cheek. To his shock, it left a bloody stain where his hand had been.

He jumped back, scared that he had hurt the boy. But when he looked down at his hands, they were red from blood. Was he bleeding? He tried to look for a wound on his hands, but there was no pain, or even the tiniest cut. Breathing became harder by the second, and every breath was heavier. His hands were shaking, and everything became blurry. He closed his eyes, sure this nightmare would end by the time he opened them.

But when he opened them, he was still in the hospital room, Daisuke still in the bed, with the blood on his cheek. Breathing was still hard, and the blood on his hands was still there. He stared down at his bloody hands, losing all sense of time. He was captivated by them, unable to look away. There was a knock on the door, but toji was still frozen in place. After a while, there was a second knock. When Toji didn't move to open it, he heard the handle turning, and a small creek from the door opening.

Steps. Small steps. And hands, so small, so fragile, grabbing his bloody ones. Toji could finally look up at the little boy in front of him. Black, short hair, sticking out in every direction, because there was no comb in his home. Big black eyes, staring. They still had that spark that you so often see in children, that slowly disappears with age. Blush on his cheeks, giving the brown skin on his face a variation of colors. Clothes, worn, and a bit too big for the boy, hand-me-downs from his older siblings. His face was full of concern.

”What have you done to look like this?” The innocent voice asked. Toji felt tears dwell up in the corners of his eyes. He recognized this child, the clothes and the messy hair. He knew, knew so well that it hurt his heart. This was the little boy, before his parents had sold him off to feed his siblings, whose clothes were covering him. This was the boy Toji kept safe, safe inside a box tucked in his heart. This was the boy, who would become the feared but rebellious teen, whose name would come to be known as Ishida Toji.

Toji jolted awake in the chair. He breathed heavily, trying to process the dream. He looked down at his hands, clean of any blood. Then he raised his head to look at Daisuke lying in the bed next to him, sleeping peacefully. Toji got up from the chair, trying to steady his heavy breathing.

“What the fuck-”, he said out loud, breaking the peaceful atmosphere in the room. He paced around the room a few times, before finally settling down on the floor, next to Daisuke’s bed. He stared at his hands, and he swore he could still see the blood tainting them. He buried his head in his filthy, filthy hands.

The dreams weren’t anything new. He saw them every once in a while, and every time it happened, he was covered in blood. Someone else's blood. It hadn’t bothered him before, but somehow the sight of himself before the Academy shook him. It shook him deep. Why now, why, why. Toji didn’t know, he didn’t understand, and he felt like his head was going to explode. His head was a mess, and for the first time in his life, he questioned the act of killing.

He grew up surrounded by death. He lived in a slum, where a few yen was worth more than a life. He learned to defend himself, and always carried a knife on him. The first time he remembered seeing a dead body, he was 4 years old, walking with his mother to the grocery store. In the middle of the street, there laid a body. It was laying in a pool of blood, the stomach having been slashed open. His mother told Toji to cover his eyes, and he did. He heard a loud crash and some ruffling, and when he opened his eyes again, the body was gone, and the only remains of the body was the pool of blood, which his mother told him to walk around.

When he joined the Academy, he learned how to kill. He was already able to use a knife, ungracefully, but effectively. He killed his first person on his 8th birthday. They told him it was a ritual. Every birthday was a day to celebrate, because the members had a chance to show what they were made of, and show their growth as a mighty soldier. His first birthday there, They put him in a small arena, with a knife and some light pants. Then They brought in a boy, maybe 14 years old. He also had a knife and the same kind of pants. It was a fight for life and death.

Toji came out victorious, but injured. As a prize for winning, a strange man called Doc, that Toji would later come to fear, healed his injuries. Later that day, he met the Angel. They told him that he was now a soldier of God, and he should act accordingly. Carry his head proud before everyone but God and his messengers. And to never go against the word of the blessed ones.

He could never return to the Academy, not ever. He had sinned, went against the rules, set by God, and the holy ones. There was not a single thing to do, except plead God for forgiveness. Maybe God, the holiest of the holy, the purest of the pure, would forgive him. Maybe God also had a little brother. Maybe the God he had served for the past 10 years would understand, and bless Toji with a lighter punishment. Maybe, but not realistically. He had sinned, and was to be treated like a sinner.

Thinking about everything made his head hurt. He got up from the uncomfortable floor, stretching a bit before making his way out of the door and into the dimly lit hallway. He had no money on him, so he mainly just walked around the hallways. There were nurses in some of the rooms, checking on the patients. He stopped behind the window of one room. There was a man lying on the bed, whose face was blocked by a younger white haired man, sitting in a chair between the window and the bed. Toji was captivated by the sight, staring in from the window.

The man got up from the chair, and finally Toji could see the other man fully. Short, dark red hair drooping low. A small stubble of beard, and a barely visible moustache. Gracing his rectangular face was a huge scar, ranging from his hairline down to his chin.

“Endeavor,” Toji sighed.

A hand on his shoulder scared the living shit out of Toji, who immediately turned around, in a pose that screamed that he was ready to fight. To his surprise, the hand belonged to the young man who Toji had just seen in Endeavor's room. Toji raised an eyebrow that asked the man what he was doing here.

The guy laughed, and his voice was gruff. Toji paid attention to the scarred face, stitched together with metal. Not the most beautiful sight, but it had Toji Intrigued. A face that gave Toji a feeling of safety, something he hadn’t felt in a while.

“So you recognize my old man?” The man said with a lazy smile.

“Unfortunately,” Toji said, pushing his hands into his pockets.

“You said it,” he laughed again.

“Not the best father, huh?” Toji asked, turning to the other, flashing a smile at him. He just nodded, and kind of shrugged at him.

After a while of silence, Toji spoke up again. “So, you wanna offer me a coffee or what?”

The white haired man raised his eyebrows. “What made you think that?”

“Who wouldn’t want to offer me a coffee?” Toji laughed.

Chapter Text

Toji was already sitting down when the white haired guy offered him a coffee, and sat down opposite him. They sat in comfortable silence for a while, sipping their coffees. Toji studied the other's face, noting down every stitch and scar. Under them, he was surely attractive, but somehow the scars were what kept Toji interested. 

“You got me to buy you coffee and you don't even introduce yourself? Where’d you learn manners?” The white haired one asked him with a skewed smile.

“Sorry, I wasn’t taught those unfortunately, I usually just use my charming words and fuckable body,”  Toji said in a tone that sounded serious, but let a sly smile grace his features. 

The man just laughed and shook his head in disagreement, muttering something like ’yea no’ under his breath. 

”You don't think that I'm charming and fuckable?” Toji asked, clearly pretending to look sad. 

“Did I ever say that?” The other flung back, and for some reason it was Toji who felt something flutter in his stomach. He chugged down his drink, instructing the other to follow him. 

Once they were out of the cafeteria and mostly out of the public eye, Toji pushed the other against a wall, both of them breathing a bit heavier than earlier. They stared at each other for a second, before the white haired man spoke up. 

“Are you going to kiss me or not, because if you are-“. His sentence was cut off by Toji's lips on his own. They both melted into the kiss, like it came as naturally as breathing. 

Toji let his hands wander from the others back to under his shirt, and into his white hair. Toji yanked the hair a bit, making the other gasp from surprise, which made Toji smile against the other's mouth. His hands kept exploring the man's body, and as Toji was about to move his mouth from the others lips down to his neck, there was a very loud and clearly fake cough, getting their attention. Toji spun around to see a quite upset nurse. 

“Could you two move somewhere else, preferably out of the hospital,” She said in a monotone voice. Toji looked at the white haired man, and it was clear both were holding back laughter. Toji just nodded and apologized to her, grabbing the other's hand and leading them to where the elevator was. Once they got in, both of them burst out laughing.

“That poor woman,” Toji managed to say in between the burst of laughter. The other just nodded, trying to steady his breathing.

Once they got to the highest floor, Toji showed the way to the roof. They got out of the locked door after a while of Toji gently persuading the lock. Once they were breathing in the fresh air, they calmed down a bit. They walked to the edge of the roof, Toji gently leaning on the concrete railing. He shoved his hand into his pocket, pulling it out with a pack of cigarettes. He pulled out one, his eyes asking if the other if he wanted one. To which, the other pulled out his own pack. 

Toji looked around his pockets, before getting annoyed.

“D’you have a light,” he asked the other. 

“Oh, do i?” He held his hand closer to Toji’s unlit cigarette. In just a second, on one of his finger tips a small blue flame danced. Toji sucked on the cigarette, before breathing out smoke. 

“How convenient you are, Todoroki Touya,” Toji said. And surprisingly, the man just lit  his own cigarette. 

“You really are as good as they say, Ishida,” He laughed out.

“Well aren’t you a smart boy,” Toji snickered, with a smile on his face. “How’d you know?”

“I’ve got friends in the right places, as you clearly do too,” Touya answered him.

Toji laughed it off, it was clear they both thought they had something to hold over the other's head. He stood up straight, breathing in the toxic smoke. He let his thoughts wander, back to everything that had happened in 24 hours. He stood staring at the first rays of the sun coming up. It would’ve been a nice sight, if not for the tremendous weight of knowing he had nowhere to return after this. He quite literally had nothing. 

“Are you gonna finish that?” He was shaken out of thought, only to realize that Touya was referring to his cigarette, with a long tail of ash on it. He shook his head, handing the cigarette to the other. They were silent for a second, Touya just breathing the smoke in and out.

“Sucking in your suicide,” Toji said, mainly to himself.

“Huh?” Touya asked, like he hadn’t heard what he said.

“You’re sucking in your suicide, like you didn’t have anyone to mourn after you died. My mother told my father that every time he smoked.” Toji spoke, his voice monotone. 

“Damn,” Touya said. “Still you started smoking.” 

“Well, it's not like I had someone to mourn me when I died. Simple math, really,” He said, his voice as light as if they were talking about the weather.

“That’s a bit fucked don’t ya’ think?” Touya asked, before stumping the cigarette against the concrete and throwing the butt away.

“Not really, we weren’t allowed to mourn, so we didn’t,” Toji shrugged.

Toji could see the man was about to say something, so he did what he knew best. A sly smile crept onto his face. He took a few smaller steps towards the other, so close that their arms were touching. He didn’t move his eyes from the sunrise while he spoke up.

“I liked you a lot better when I had my tongue in your mouth, you asked far fewer questions.”

Toji felt Touya’s eyes turn to him, but pretended to not notice. He looked up at the sky, clouds dyed red by the rising sun. Toji counted the seconds, and when he had counted to three, Touya moved his arm from next to Toni's arm, and after a second of hesitation, he felt the same hand on his ass. Just as planned.

Toji turned his head, the same sly smile on his face again. He stared at the other, who just stared back, with a kind of a challenge on his face. Toji leaned closer, so his mouth was just nearly avoiding the other’s ear. He breathed into the man’s ear, driving him insane. He let his hand wander onto the other's ass, and grabbed it suddenly. Toji heard the other man hold back a moan, and he knew it was his opportunity to strike.

“C’mon Touya, you don't have to hold back,” Toji purred into his ear, letting his hand move up to the other's back, while his other hand slowly made its way up his inner thigh. 

Touya gasped, but Toji wasn't satisfied with it. He let his tongue slide against Touya’s ear, leaving a wet trail behind. 

“Touya, won’t you moan for me darling. I want to hear you,” making sure to draw out the ‘darling’. 

It seemed to do the trick. When Toji squeezed the inner thigh he was holding, and the other let out a breathy moan. Toji smiled against the other’s ear, before letting his lips trail kisses from his ear down to his neck, where he bit lightly. All while he let his hand creep up Touya's thigh, almost up to his groin. 

Touya melted into Toji’s touch, and Toji couldn’t say he wasn’t affected by the others' lengthy moans. He was half hard, and Touya's hands wandering all over him wasn’t exactly helping the case. He took a shaky breath, before pulling away. The other looked at him, his eyes asking why he had stopped. 

“You’re shaking,” Toji said, trying to sound worried.

“It’s a bit cold,” Touya admitted through gritted teeth. 

“As much as I’d like to stay here and warm you, I’m going to be a gentleman,” Toji said, wrapping Touya in the jacket he had summoned just seconds ago. “You stay here, I’ll get your jacket.”

“I can get it myself, thanks,” the man tried to push off the jacket from his shoulders. 

“C’mon, wouldn’t you let me treat you right, darling,” Toji asked, putting on his most charming act. 

The other seemed to see through all the bullshit, but he just shrugged, sitting down against the concrete wall protecting them from falling off the roof. Toji gave him a smile, winked, and disappeared from the door. 

—

Touya knew that the other wasn't coming back. He sat, leaning to the concrete railing, digging out another cig from his pocket. He shoved the pack into his jacket pocket, realizing there already was something in there. He dug it out, and it made him laugh. A small pack of candy, with a sticky note on it. 

      8146662847

      call me ;)

       -T

Touya opened the packet from its wrappings, and popped a fruit flavoured candy into his mouth. He shook his head, thinking about the other guy. He knew what he was doing, and it was strange for Touya to have been manipulated that easily. That guy was a fuckboy, not someone to date, but that's not what bothered Touya, he wasn’t looking for a relationship. 

What bothered him was the boy's calculated movement, the way nothing about him seemed genuine. There was no sadness in the boy's eyes, no grief, but also no love or passion. They weren't empty, they were filled with hundreds of pre-practiced emotions.

And the lightness in his voice when he said there was no one to mourn him, it was almost as if he didn’t know how depressing that was. Touya was curious about him, and what had happened in the boy's life for him to turn out like that. Who had made an innocent boy into an emotionless teen, filled with nothing but pre learned scripts.

As he thought, he lit his cigarette, taking a long breath of the toxic smoke into his lungs. It burned like always, giving him the feeling of control. He was in control of his own life, able to do whatever he wished, even kill himself slowly with the poison he breathed into his lungs. Sure, he didn't want to die, but sometimes he questioned if this life truly was worth living. He was in pain most of the time, the burn scars ached and sometimes made life feel like hell on earth. 

He shook his head, ridding himself of the thoughts, popping another candy into his mouth. He breathed in the smoke from his cigarette, and it mixed with the fruity flavour of the candy he was chewing on. He got up, to see the last bits of red from the sunrise color the sky, taking another breath of the cig. He stared at the pack of candy, still with the note on it. He smiled lightly, digging out his phone, typing the number down. In these moments, the pain he lived with seemed like nothing compared to the joy of living and experiencing.

Chapter Text

Once Toji made it back to the room Daisuke was being treated in, a nurse was there already. She was quite beautiful, but Toji had had his fill of flirting for the day. He almost laughed out loud, thinking about how out of character it was for him. But instead of laughing, he made his way to the window, staring at the sunrise’s last colors.

 He thought about Todoroki Touya, and the life he had lived. A life shadowed by his father’s career, and ultimately being announced dead at just the age of 11. And then, a few years later coming back with the name ‘Dabi’, with the only objective of killing the man who had been called his father for years, and who had ultimately abandoned him. Once he was caught, he was sentenced to Tartarus for 3 years for damage to public property and the deaths his fires had caused. 

He was thankful the man didn’t know how much Toji knew about him, it would’ve been a bit too much for their first ever meeting. Toji was aware that he had been released from prison recently, but was caught off guard meeting him here, especially next to his fathers bed.

Toji dug out the phone Aizawa had left him. Toji tapped on the screen to wake it up. The only notification was from an unknown number, which Toji opened. 

hows the jacket finding going ;) 

Toji smiled, adding the number to his contacts as Todoroki Touya, before replying.

i fear i might have gotten lost on the way

Before Toji had time to close the phone, the other was already typing. Toji sat into the chair he had slept in, sitting widely with his right foot resting on the left knee. He leaned back, waiting for the other to finish typing.

what a shame, guess ill just have to find my way back alone

but think positively

now you can go back to your dear father all alone

yea, thanks for reminding me

why were you here to see him anyway?

dunno really

heard he was here so i came to see if its true

they say he wont die unfortunately

sorry abt that, i shoulda done a better job :p 

?????

what do u mean

wait

oh wait

you didnt know

shit

…

Toji bit his lip, hoping the other wouldn’t kill him for this. He doubted it, the man didn’t seem too attached to his father, but Toji knew not to underestimate his bad luck. He didn’t notice his phone had turned off, before the screen lit up, showing he had a new message from Touya. He opened it, and smiled at the message.

old man really has started lacking to get his shit rocked

by a teenager

like got damn he really is getting old.

damn touya, you rly disrespect your dear father like that

shaking my head rn

(but youre right, i could see his gray hairs from meters

away)

hold on, i gotta do something

Toji sat in his chair, patiently waiting for what Touya was planning. He yawned a bit, realizing he had slept maybe four hours last night. He suppressed another yawn that was trying to claw its way out of his mouth, before looking back down at the phone that had lit up again, reminding Toji that he was still talking to Touya. He opened the message the other had sent him.

He stared at the picture for a second, before bursting out in laughter. He ignored the nurse shushing him to keep quiet, still laughing at the photo. In retrospect, it wasn't that funny, it was just a drawing of Endeavor as an old man. But man did it feel nice to laugh. 

damn, did you draw that?

if so i gotta give you credit for nailing his angry face

nah, my sister drew it

but yea she really got the face down

no surprise since shes seen him angry more than

a few times xD

damn i almost feel bad for her lol

Toji closed his eyes, breathing heavily, feeling another wave of tiredness hit him. He leaned further on the chair, still a slight smile on his face. 

“You look happier than usual.” 

The voice shook Toji out of the slumber he had fallen into. He looked around, noticing Daisuke leaning on his arms in the bed, smirking at Toji.

“Well good morning to you too,” Toji answered him.

“So, who’re you talking to?” Daisuke’s smirk grew as he spoke.

Toji raised an eyebrow at him. “Why do you think I’m talking to someone, huh?” 

“Oh c’mon Toji, don’t even try that shit on me,” Daisuke answered, still with a slight smirk still on his face

“Okay, what if I am talking to someone. None of your business really,” Toji wanted to wipe the smirk off the boy's face. 

“Be fucking for real. You are the fuckboyest of the fuckboys and the player of the century. You aren’t one to smile when texting one of your fuckbuddies, so there's gotta be something else there.” Daisuke’s face showed that he wasn’t willing to let this rest.

Toji was starting to get tired of his brother's continuous questions, so he flipped the boy off, a fake pout on his face. Then, he thought for a second, before getting up from the chair. 

”Fine, I’ll go get him.”

—

Toji found the room pretty quickly, knocking on the window to get the other’s attention. The man turned around in the chair, grinning widely as he recognized the other. Toji watched as he got up and walked out of the room Toji was still staring in. Not even a second after Touya had left the room, Toji felt arms wrap around him from the back. He turned to face the other, before a hungry pair of lips found his own. Toji gave in for a second, before gently pulling away. 

“Eager, are we?” Toji raised an eyebrow.

“So you didn’t come here to make out?” Touya said with a fake disappointment on his face.

“As much as I’d like to, I promised my brother I’d introduce you two.”

Touya raised an eyebrow at him, smirking. 

“Oh so we’re at the stage where we introduce each other to our families, huh?”

“Fucks sake Touya,” Toji laughed. “My brother wouldn’t leave me alone for even a second if I didn’t tell him who you are.” 

“He’s a nosy one is he?” Touya asked him, still a slight smile on his face.

“Oh you wouldn’t believe it,” Toji laughed, pulling Touya by the hand to follow him.

Once they got to the door, Toji gave Touya a small smile, and knocked before opening the door. He checked the room, making sure the nurse wasn’t there, before pulling Touya into the room. 

Daisuke had fallen asleep again, and looked quite peaceful. Toji hushed Touya to stay quiet, signing him to join him next to the bed.

“Watch this,” Toji whispered, before summoning a bottle of water into his hand. He opened it, carefully taking off the mask that supported the boy's breathing, before closing the boy's open mouth so he wouldn’t choke. then with no warning be turned the bottle upside down and squeezed it empty. 

The boy jumped up, ripping off a few of the cables attached to him, making the monitors next to him start beeping like crazy. Toji doubled over cackling, and Touya next to him couldn’t keep a straight face either, doubling over just a second after Toji.

”WHAT THE FUCK?!” The boy yelled as soon as he caught his breath. 

“You shouldn’t fall asleep after trying to stick your nose into my relationships,” Toji said, still catching his breath from laughter.

“Oh now I remember. Where is he?” Daisuke asked, forgetting all about Toji’s wake up strategy.

“Oh he’s still on the floor rolling from laughter at my amazing trick,” Toji smiled, looking at the floor. “C’mon Touya, that's bad manners. Get up here.”

Toji pulled the man from the floor, throwing his arm around the shorter one's shoulder. He grinned before opening his eyes to see Daisuke’s face, that was anything but amused. 

“Toji. Now be very serious with me,” Daisuke started. “The guy you're seeing is fucking Dabi?” 

“Oh I see there was no need to introduce you to him, you already know him,” Toji smiled innocently. “Plus I think saying we’re ‘seeing each other’ is a bit radical. We met around 2 hours ago, you see.”

Daisuke simply rubbed his temples and closed his eyes. Toji laughed again, seeing the annoyance on his brother’s face. Before either of them had time to say anything, the door was open, and in bursts the nurse who had been in the room before Toji left to find Touya. Behind her, in walked a familiar face.

“Oh, Miss Ieiri. What a pleasure to see you again, hope you're having a great morning” Toji tried to put on his most proper face, but failed quite miserably, his smile breaking through. 

Ieiri’s eyes moved from Toji to Daisuke and his very much wet clothes and bed, before moving back to Toji. She just sighed, shaking her head a bit. 

“Ishida, if this is your doing I swear-”, she was interrupted by yet another person entering the room. 

“Oh, and Aizawa as well. The party is getting bigger. It would be lovely to stay here and chat, but unfortunately I have some better parties I need to attend. Farewell then,” before anyone could stop him, Toji quickly exited the room, pulling Touya along with him. 

They ran in the direction of the elevator, which just happened to have someone exciting it. Touya sprinted to the elevator, getting his arm between the elevator doors before they had time to close, and Toji quickly followed the other into the elevator. 

They almost laughed themself to death while slowly making their way to the roof. Once they got to the door, it still had some signs of Toji’s persuasions, so Toji just pushed it open and Touya was not far to follow. 

Toji fell on the floor, now breathing heavily after all the laughing. He closed his eyes, smiling widely. The fooling around felt so nice, this is what he loved. He let out yet another laugh, just because it felt so right.

“What’s so funny, pretty boy?” Touya asked him. 

Toji opened his eyes to see the other towering over him with a smirk on his face. 

“You think I’m pretty? What an honour to have someone as gorgeous as you saying that,” Toji smiled.

He felt Touya lay down next to him, turning his head to the other, who was also facing him. Toji smiled at him, but turned his head away and closed his eyes again. He was letting Touya take the lead, and sure enough, in just a matter of seconds Touya had rolled on top of him. Toji still didn’t open his eyes, waiting for the other to make his move. 

When he felt a hand in his long hair and light lips on his own ones, he finally looked at the other

“What do we have here,” Toji mumbled against the other’s lips. “Shall we continue where we left off?”

—

When Toji left the room, pulling the man along with him, Daisuke laid back on the slightly wet pillow. He stared at the roof, a wide smile appearing on his face. 

“So,” Aizawa cleared his throat, clearly a bit awkward. “Seems Ishida has gotten comfortable already.”

“Yeah, he tends to do that quickly,” Daisuke laughed slightly. 

Daisuke laid still, waiting for the doctor to finish assessing his wounds and making sure none of them had opened. Once she pulled away, Daisuke was the first to speak.

“Am I healthy enough to leave soon? All of this lying around has got me bored out of my mind.”

“It would seem that the treatment is working. I’d say you're doing quite well, but we’ll keep you here for a couple more days under surveillance,” the woman spoke in a calm tone. 

“Well, since he’s nearly healed, would it be okay to ask him a few questions?” Aizawa spoke up.

Daisuke looked at the doctor, and then at Aizawa, before nodding.

“Shoot,” Daisuke said to Aizawa.

Chapter Text

When Toji heard this was the last night Daisuke would be spending at the hospital, it was safe to say he was relieved. The past 72 hours had been a blur. He had barely eaten or slept, and was somehow running on pure caffeine. These last days were like hell on earth.

During the days, he could leave more freely, knowing Daisuke was rather safe and always had someone with him. So he would sit up on the roof, smoking mainly. And talking to Touya of course. They sat and sat, for hours from sunrise to nightfall. They’d get coffees, sometimes they would talk, sometimes just sit in silence.

During the nights Toji stayed up, next to Daisuke's bed. They were given a room with a bathroom after Toji refused to leave to use the toilet during the night. But still, Toji didn’t use it if he didn’t have to. He knew there was someone keeping track of their every movement, waiting for the right moment to attack. And Toji knew, if he wasn’t there at that moment, he would lose Daisuke.

Toji knew that the last night would be the worst. He felt his entire body shutting down due to the excess of caffeine and lack of sleep in it. He knew that if someone tried to take Daisuke then, he would not be of much use. His eyes shut forcibly, no matter how bad he tried to keep them open. Anytime he fell asleep, he would wake up to nightmares, which got worse every time. 

So when he woke up to Daisuke yelling out, he was sure this was the night he would lose Daisuke. 

He jumped up, checking the room for anything that could help him protect Daisuke. Only once he realized there wasn’t actually anyone in the room, he could breathe again. He was still weary when he walked up to the bed, but when he didn’t detect danger, he could drop his guard to focus on Daisuke. The boy was tossing in his bed, screaming out something Toji couldn't make out.

Suddenly, Daisuke was sitting in the bed, breathing heavily. His eyes looked around in fear, and when he stopped, Toji could see the streaks of tears on his face. The boy still hadn’t registered that Toji was there, and carefully Toji spoke out.

“Dai,” he whispered to the boy, whose head snapped to Toji. His face looked relieved when he realized it was him.

“Toji, help me. Please help me,” the boy cried, grabbing Toji by his shirt. 

“Dai what’s wrong, tell me what has happened,” Toji asked the boy, who was now crying again.

“They’re here again Toji, the nightmares, they’re here again,” Daisuke sobbed.

Toji gently wrapped his arms around the boy, and let him sob against his shirt. He wasn't sure what to say, or even if he needed to say anything. He just let the boy cry, waiting for the tears to stop. And slowly, they did stop, but still Daisuke clung onto Toji like it was his last lifeline. And of course Toji let him.

“Why’s this happening, why now, I don’t understand,” Daisuke said, voice hoarse from crying.

“I- I don’t know,” Toji said truthfully. “But I’m sure we’ve done the right thing.”

He was lying. Again. Really, he didn’t know what to think about everything. But that was not today's worry, nor tomorrow's. For now, he just tried to keep daisuke alive, and try to survive through it.

“What if I have to go back?” Daisuke sobbed, tears rolling again.

“You won’t, I won’t let you go,” Toji tried to calm the boy who gasped for breath, nearly hyperventilating now. 

“It’s- him,” Daisuke managed to say. “It’s always him.” 

Toji’s breath hitched. His brain went blank with rage and he clenched his hands into first, so hard he could feel the skin break beneath his nails. He tried to keep his mouth shut, not wanting to scare or upset Daisuke anymore. 

“When I catch him there won't be anything remaining once I’m done,” His breathing was fitful, he was so angry he swore he’d kill anyone that ever tried to touch Daisuke again.

“It’s okay ‘Ji,” Daisuke said quietly.

Toji still was gripping Daisuke, and his palms were surely staining Daisuke’s hospital gown in blood. He tried to calm down, he really did. But even the thought of the man they were talking about made his blood boil.  

“C’mon dude, it’s fine,” Daisuke laughed, trying to lighten his mood. 

That cracked something in Toji, who tried his hardest not to cry. Daisuke, probably the most emotional guy in the Academy, was trying to get him to calm down. He hugged the boy even more tightly, swallowing his tears. He placed his head in daisuke’s blue hair. 

“Thank you,” Toji murmured against the boy's hair. 

That sat there in silence, Toji hugging the boy tightly, head pressed against his hair. When Toji was sure Daisuke was asleep, he laid the boy into the bed. He stared at his hands, still stained by his own blood. He felt the pure rage rise into his head again. He felt his hands shake from the strength of the feeling. He wanted to get out of the room, to scream and kick, to just throw a tantrum. But what he really wanted was to kill. To kill the man that hurt Daisuke, brutally murder that man for hurting his little brother.

He sat down on the chair, breathing heavily. He was full of pure, unfiltered rage. He wanted to hurt that man like no one had ever hurt him. He wanted to rip him from limb to limb, to waterboard him with acid, to do anything so the man suffered. 

“‘Ji, it’s okay to leave. You’re not responsible for me,” he heard Daisuke talking from the bed. 

Toji shook his head, not knowing what he was supposed to do. He couldn’t leave Dai, not now, not ever. He needed to protect him. But damn did he need a smoke.

“Go dumbass, I already asked Aizawa here. He’s nearly here, you can go,” Daisuke told him, in a calm voice. He was telling Toji to take a moment off, to go take a breather outside.

“I can’t go,” Toji muttered. 

“Toji, I will not ask again. The moment Aizawa is here, you’re going away to clear your head. You got that?” Daisuke said coldly, but Toji could hear the love in his voice.

He thought for a moment. And another moment. He didn’t have time for the 3rd moment, before there was a knock on the door, and Aizawa entered with the other man Toji recognized from the interrogation, who he assumed to be Aizawa’s boyfriend.

“Toji you heard me, get out,” Daisuke’s voice was soft. 

Toji got up, walking to the door, stopping in front of Aizawa. He leaned in a bit, before speaking up.

“You let him get hurt and I’ll kill you and your family,” He exited the room, slamming the door behind him.

“He seems to be in a good mood, huh,” Aizawa said, a bit confused.

—

Toji ran up the stairs, not bothering with the elevator because of its slowness. Once he got to the roof, he saw exactly what he was looking for. 

“What’s the rush?” Touya asked him, taking a drag from his cigarette. 

Toji didn’t respond, just hurried to the man. Touya raised an eyebrow at him, before Toji’s lips were on his. Toji’s hands were quickly in the other’s hair and under his shirt. The man tasted like smoke, but there was also a sweet flavour. Toji couldn't quite make out what it was, not that he cared at the moment.

“Woah there pretty boy, what’s got you all worked up?” Touya pulled away, grinning.

“It’s nothing, I just need you right now. Please,” Toji’s voice was rough. 

Before the other had time to respond, Toji already had his lips on Touya’s neck. He moved his lips carefully but hungrily through the man’s neck. When he heard a slight hitch in the other's breath, he stopped his lips on the spot, and sucked on it.

“Dear lord,” Touya let out.

Toji smiled against his neck, before biting it suddenly. The man let out a loud breath, making Toji bite even harder.

“Fuck, dude what was that for,” Touya asked, teasing the other.

“Thought I’d let everyone know that you're mine,” Toji mumbled, moving his lips up to the other’s again. He pushed the man against the wall behind them, his hands still roaming over his body.

Touya let him explore his body for a bit, before he carefully pushed Toji off of him, his hands gently holding his face.

“As much as I like this, I don’t wanna take advantage of you in this state,” Touya’s voice was careful but caring.

“C’mon what’s that supposed to mean,” Toji asked, trying to kiss the man again, but Touya’s hands kept his face still, being careful not to hurt him.

“You know just as well as I do what I mean,” when Touya spoke, his words were calm. 

Toji ridded himself off Touya’s hands, walking away. He could feel the anger he had tried to shove down, rise back up. He stopped, his breath heavy and his shoulders tense. He was furious, and soon, he could barely breathe. He took a deep breath to fill his lungs that felt on fire. He walked in Touya's direction, staring at the ground, swallowing something rising up in his throat. 

When he got to Touya, he looked up at the man, who looked at him with calm eyes. They were so calm, like a windless day at a beach. It made Toji want to hurl, seeing the man’s eyes were pitying him. Touya was pitying him. 

It made something snap in him. He just let the wave of emotion take over him, letting it swallow everything. He clenched his fist, which dug into the broken skin, but the pain cleared Toji’s head, just enough to move just a small step, before punching the wall with all his might.

“FUCK!” Toji yelled out. He was so mad, furious, but the feeling of shooting pain in his hand was a relief. 

Touya, who he noticed was still standing still, about 10 centimeters from where Toji's fist had hit. He knew, if he hadn’t taken that small step, Touya’s head would’ve been crushed. Yet, the man showed no fear. 

“I’m glad you didn’t hit me,” Touya’s voice said, and it sounded like he had known Toji wouldn't hit him.

Toji staggered backwards, staring at the wall, where in the concrete there was a hole that had cracks running from it. Then he looked down at his hand. It was bloody, and the pain was slowly building up, but it wasn't enough. It’d never be enough.

“Touya, why? Why, why, why?” His barriers broke down, and the tears forced themself out of his eyes. He was tired, so fucking tired. All he wanted was a break from all of this bullshit.

He heard Touya say something, but couldn’t process it. Last thing he knew, his legs gave out under him, before everything went black.

Chapter Text

Touya was ready to catch the other when he fell. He carefully raised the boy into his arms, making sure that his injured hand was laying atop of his stomach, and that it wouldn’t fall. He quickly made his way from the roof to the elevator, and from there into the room where the boy's brother was being treated.

When he knocked on the door, he was greeted by a familiar face.

“Aizawa, what a pleasure,” Touya said, polite as ever. “Would you mind taking a look at Toji?”

The man looked first at Touya, then at the boy lying in his arms, then at his bruised and bloodied hand. He seemed to do a quick analysis on what to do, before he walked to the bed where Toji’s brother was now sitting, pressing a little white button on the table next to the bed.

“What?” He heard a small voice ask from behind Aizawa.

“Kahlon, would you move so we can get Ishida into the bed?” The black haired man asked the boy, who got up from the bed.

Touya now got his first good look at the boy. He was standing in clothes that were too big for him. His tanned skin made his cyan hair stick out, and in the yellow, snakelike eyes, he could see all kinds of emotions.

“What have you done to him?” The boy asked Touya, who debated on what to say.

Before he actually had time to answer, a nurse entered the room from behind Touya, assessing the situation. Behind the nurse, in hurried a doctor that Touya had only got a glimpse of when Toji had dragged him out of the room a couple days earlier.

“Put him on the bed,” she instructed him.

Touya did as told, gently laying the boy from his arms onto the bed. He stepped backwards, letting the doctor take a better look at Toji’s hand.

She assessed it quite quickly, and instructed the nurse to prepare for an x-ray. After she had done that she turned to the blue haired boy, getting him to sit in a chair close to the bed. The boy was clearly in shock, and barely managed to breathe.

“Did you see what happened?” The doctor asked Touya, still standing calmly close by the door.

“I did,” Touya said, not elaborating.

“So you were there,” said the boy sitting in the chair. “You saw it happen and you didn’t do JACK SHIT.”

“Yes, you’re correct. I didn’t do jack shit,” he answered to the boy.

In a split second, the boy was in front of him, and a strong fist struck him. He staggered back a bit, but stayed on his feet. Another punch came flying his way, and he didn’t even try to dodge. Before the third punch hit him, the boy’s first was caught by a strong hand.

“What’s happening here?” The blonde man who had just entered the room asked, still keeping the boy’s fist tightly in his hand.

“Good timing Hizashi,” Aizawa said, before forcing the boy’s strong arms behind his back.

“FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKING PRICK!” The boy yelled at Touya.

“Listen, lil Toji,” Touya said, calmly as ever. “You’re right to be angry. I’m glad to see you’re as fiery as your brother.”

The boy struggled against Aizawa’s binding hands as the whites of his eyes started changing color. Once they were entirely black, the boy kicked backwards, making Aizawa dodge his foot. The boy didn’t stop there though, and even before his foot had hit the ground, he used his other leg to jump where Aizawa had dodged, headbutting the man hard. The man staggered backwards, and the boy managed to get out of his grip and jump towards Touya, who didn’t even try to dodge.

They fell to the floor, and the boy sunk his sharp teeth into Touya’s neck. The pain was immediate, and made Touya hiss through his teeth. Before anyone even had time to move to try to get the boy off of him, a familiar voice spoke up.

“Daisuke, stop that. I’m the only one allowed to do that to him,” Toji said, sitting up in his bed, leaning on his healthy hand.

Touya felt the sharp teeth leave his neck, but they left the horrific pain behind.

The boy got up from the floor, his eyes quickly going back to white. His voice was full of confusion when he spoke.

“But he let you do that to yourself,” he said. “And you’re fucking joking about that shit.”

“Dai, drop it,” Toji told the boy, who didn’t listen.

“I’m not going to ‘drop it’ Toji. Your hand is fucked”

“Daisuke, we’ve talked about this. No, it is not fucked,” Toji said, telling the boy to stop talking.

Touya tried getting up from the floor, when a shooting pain hit him in his shoulder and neck.

“Oh yeah, you shouldn’t really do that Touya. Daisuke’s venom only spreads faster the more you try to struggle,” Toji spoke again.

“Oh thank you for telling me, I surely would’ve missed it without you. It’s not like I can feel it moving through my body, burning every cell in its way,” Touya said, voice dripping with sarcasm and pain.

“Daisuke,” Toji said, to which the boy just turned his head away. “You’ve caused this mess, and you damn sure are going to clean it up.”

“Fine,” the boy murmured, walking up to Touya. He crouched down beside him, and spat on the marks his teeth had left behind.

“Oh come on Dai, you could at least bite him, not just hope that you spitting on him will do the job,” Toji scolded the boy, who just flipped them all off, walking out of the door.

Toji fell back into the bed, letting out a tired sigh.

“Aizawa, could you go after the boy while I get them both treated?” The doctor asked the man, who nodded and left the room.

As the doctor was once again checking the damage on his hand, he held out his healthy hand, where a small syringe appeared.

“Give that to Touya. It’ll work faster and better than just Daisuke’s spit,” he told the doctor, who nodded and handed it to the blonde man standing behind her.

“Thanks man,” Touya managed to say, before the pain shut off his brain.

Chapter Text

Toji opened his eyes, seeing an unfamiliar ceiling. He looked at his right hand, which was wrapped in a few bandages. He scoffed a bit knowing that the wounds hadn’t been serious enough for even the bandages.

He looked around to figure out where he was, and to his surprise, there was a familiar face lying in the bed next to him. Touya looked so peaceful sleeping there, Toji couldn’t help but smile. His hospital robe had slipped down, and it revealed the bandages wrapping around his shoulder and chest. Toji couldn’t help but laugh when he remembered how angry Daisuke had been at the man.

The man tossed in his bed, before opening his tired eyes. He blinked a few times, before looking around and seeing Toji, still leaning on his left hand. 

“Waking up to your laughter might be my new favourite thing,” Touya leaned back on his pillow.

“I could show you a new favourite thing if I wanted to move, but unfortunately I don’t,” Toji laughed.

“Well, I do want to move,” Touya wiggled his eyebrows at him, making the other laugh.

“You wouldn’t take advantage of me in this injured state, would you?” Toji teased the man.

“Oh, certainly not,” The man said, but got up from the bed. 

He leaned over Toji, pressing a kiss on his forehead, before standing straight again.

“Maybe later I’ll take care of you later, but for now you need to rest,” he smiled at Toji.

“Aw, darn it,” Toji said with a fake pout, but settled back into his bed. 

Touya sat on the side of Toji’s bed, playing with his hair. They sat there in comfortable silence, and in a moment, Touya had started to braid the other’s hair. He hummed slowly, while Toji watched the man’s face, calm as ever. He closed his eyes, breathing through his nose, feeling safe for the first time in days.

A knock on the door made Toji open his eyes. The door opened, revealing a blue haired boy standing a bit awkwardly. He looked up at them and slowly walked in. Before either of them had time to say anything, the boy dropped to his knees, pressing his forehead against the ground next to his hands.

“I apologize,” The boy said loudly. “I see that you make my brother happy and I shouldn’t have attacked you like that.”

Touya let out a laugh, glancing at Toji who was also smiling widely. 

“Get up man, you haven’t done anything to apologize like that,” Touya laughed.

“No, I’ve caused you pain without reason. I’m asking you to punish me in any form you’d like,” the boy answered. 

Touya looked at Toji, a bit confused by the boy’s behaviour.

“C’mon Daisuke, we’re out of there. Touya isn't going to beat you half to death because you made a mistake,” Toji said with a smile.

The man got up from the bed, walking in front of the younger boy. He offered his hand to Daisuke. The boy got up onto his knees, and took the offered hand and stood up. Touya didn’t let go of his hand, but shook it instead.

“Name’s Todoroki Touya, it’s a pleasure to finally talk properly,” he introduced himself.

“I’m Kashimo Daisuke,” the boy said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

Toji raised an eyebrow, but neither of them noticed. 

“I’m gonna go get a coffee, d’you guys want anything?” Touya asked, politely offering an opportunity for the two to talk alone. 

“Get me a black coffee. Dai probably just wants a flat white,” Toji said.

“Yeah, that’s fine. Do you need money for it?” Daisuke asked.

“Wait a second, how do you have money? Did you rob someone?” Toji asked, extremely confused.

“Aizawa gave me some to get food and such,” Daisuke shrugged, and handed Touya two 500 yen coins.

“You can get like 5 coffees for that, don’t you have anything smaller?” Touya felt a bit bad, taking money from the boy.

“It’s not his money so I don’t see the problem. Just go get the coffee, dumbfuck,” Toji chimed in.

Touya shrugged and left to get them the coffees. Once the man had left, Toji motioned the boy to sit on his bed.

“Why’d you introduce yourself like that to him but tell Aizawa your name?” Toji raised his eyebrow.

“You can never be too careful y’know,” Daisuke tried shrugging it off.

“That’s not it,” Toji said bluntly. 

Daisuke shook his head, falling deep into thought. Toji let him sit at the end of his bed, not rushing the boy to speak.

“It’s just,” Daisuke started. “I feel like my name isn’t- it isn’t mine anymore. Anytime Aizawa calls me by that name, it feels like he’s not talking to me. Like I’m not Kahlon anymore. So much has happened since then, I’m not that boy anymore.” 

The boy looked sad, remembering the life he used to have. 

“I also had a different name,” Toji said quietly.

“Really? Why’d you never tell me?” Daisuke asked curiously.

“I don’t remember it,” Toji’s voice had a dark undertone to it. “I was told I’m now Ishida, and that the past life was over. I had a better life now. There was no need to remember.”

“Somehow all of your identity just fades away. The threat of becoming nothing was scarier than anything they could do. That’s why no one leaves,” Daisuke said.

“Except us.”

The unsaid floated all around them. What had they done?

—

When Touya got back, he didn’t question the somber mood in the room. He just handed them their coffees and sat down between the two. Toji got up from his bed, and leaned his chest against Touya’s back, placing his head on the other’s shoulder. 

Toji felt safe, almost at home. He felt Touya’s warmth and stability, almost drowning in it. He closed his eyes, breathing in Touya’s scent. He turned his head to kiss Touya’s hair, and soon, the man also turned his head to meet Toji’s lips.

“Thank you,” Toji mumbled against his lips.

“You guys are gross,” Daisuke said, fake gagging. 

“Sorry,” Toji laughed, but didn’t pull his lips away from Touya’s.

“Yea fuck this, you guys can continue but I can’t enjoy my coffee when my brother is making out next to me,” Daisuke said, getting up. 

Toji almost wanted to say something, but the taste of the man’s mouth was intoxicating. He knew Daisuke wasn’t actually upset and was just giving them privacy. Well, as much privacy as you can have in a hospital room with a window placed on the front. 

Touya soon pulled away, laying Toji down before lying next to him. They stared at each other, and Toji let his hand, that wasn't in a useless cast, wander into Touya’s spiky hair. He twirled it around his fingers, and smiled at the man. 

“So,” Toji started, still looking at the man. “What’s gonna happen after we get out of here?”

“What’d you mean?” Touya asked him.

“Like, do we keep this up?” Toji motioned at them.

“This bromance you mean?” Touya smirked.

“What makes this a bromance and not just a romance?” Toji laughed at him.

“Well, we’re bros right?” Touya gave him a stupid smile.

The man's stupidity made Toji laugh harder. He flipped over so he was lying on top of Touya, smiling at the man. Toji kissed his nose, before moving his head so their lips were just barely touching.

“So, do we keep this up?” Toji asked the man. 

“I think so,” Touya closed the gap between them.

They laid there, limbs intertwined and their lips locked. It felt right, their bodies fit together perfectly like puzzle pieces. They could lay there for hours and it would feel just as right. But right now wasn’t the time. Touya gently pushed the other off of him. The boy pouted a bit, making Touya smile widely.

“Awh, I was just starting to have fun,” Toji whined.

“Sorry, but I don't think this is the right time or place.”

Toji rolled off of Touya's stomach, but still laid close to him. He breathed through his nose and kept his eyes closed.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Touya asked suddenly.

“Huh? About what?” Toji kept his eyes closed while speaking.

“Well, mainly why we’re lying here in the hospital and not in my apartment,” Touya said carefully.

Toji didn’t respond for a while. He thought about the morning, and what had happened. 

“It wasn’t anything,” Toji tried to brush it off.

Touya just hummed. He didn't say anything, but Toji could feel his eyes digging into him. He sighed and shook his head. 

“I can’t tell you. Not yet.” 

“I understand,” Touya’s voice was soft when he spoke, and Toji could feel the warmth in his words.

Toji found the other’s hand, and intertwined their fingers. He was glad he didn’t have to talk about it. It was not something to just drop onto the other after a week of talking. The terrors he had experienced were nothing but his, and he should bear them on his own.

Before either of them could speak up, the door opened, and a doctor they hadn’t seen before walked in. Behind her, an anxious looking nurse entered. Toji could feel the strength of the woman in front of him, her aura was terrifying.

“My name is Unohana Retsu. It truly is a pleasure to meet you two,” she said with a smile. 

”So let’s just get to the point. Why am I here?” Toji's face looked natural, but the woman’s aura had Toji on his toes. 

”Well clearly, you weren’t feeling well. It would’ve been against our code to send you home,” she said.

Toji raised an eyebrow at her, but didn’t say anything. Whilst the two had been talking, Touya had moved to sit on his own bed.

“So, I’m too dumb to figure out what is going on, but I know you’re here for Toji. You see I’m not dumb or self centered enough to think you were here for me,” Touya chimed in. 

“Ahh, it seems there’s a misunderstanding. I’m here to simply check the healing process of both of you,” she smiled, a slight threat in her voice.

The teens didn’t say anything, knowing there was something more going on. The doctor had a pleasant smile on her face, and kept her eyes closed. The silence in the room grew ever louder, before it was finally broken by the nurse standing behind the woman.

“Ma’am, I can examine Todoroki’s wounds, why don’t you see how Ishida’s hand is healing,” he had a slight tremble in his voice, showing his anxiety at the situation.

“Ah, yes, thank you Yamada,” her face smile not disappearing for even a second. 

The nurse quickly started taking off Touya’s bandages until he could see the swollen bite marks low on his neck. Around them were blotches of purple, red and green. The nurse didn’t seem faced at the bruising, he just examined them carefully. 

Whilst the nurse was cleaning Touya’s wound, the doctor started slowly taking off the bandages on Toji’s hand, her face was concentrated, but she was clearly thinking hard. When the last of the bandages were off, they both could see the slightly swollen and bruised hand. But other than that, the hand seemed fine, Toji could move his fingers freely when the doctor asked him to, with just a slight pain when the small wounds opened again. 

The doctor hummed slightly when there didn’t seem to be any problem.

“A penny for your thoughts,” Toji directed his words at the doctor. 

“Ishida, I’m going to be straightforward with you. We x-rayed the hand, and there isn’t even the slightest of fractures. This-”. 

“Isn’t normal.” Toji cut off the doctor, finishing the sentence for her. “I know it isn’t, so get to the point.”

The doctor was quiet for a second, before she spoke up again. 

“Why?” 

“I’m going to assume that you aren’t wondering why this isn't normal, you are a doctor after all. So I’ll jump to the second conclusion. Why isn't my hand broken,” Toji said, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“Precisely,” The doctor said. 

“Well, I don’t think it’s any of your business, is it,” Toji stated.

He didn’t want to tell her. Or really he didn’t want to tell himself. Not again. He wanted to forget.

“Ishida, we need to know,” she spoke. 

Toji shook his head. He didn’t want to tell anyone, he couldn't.

“Ishida-”. She didn’t have time to finish whatever she was about to say before Toji spoke up.

“They did surgery on me. Strengthening my bones, so they wouldn’t break,” Toji spoke quickly, so it would be over sooner. “Everytime it was more painful than the last time. I had the day of the surgery off. And the day after- the day after they beat me. Beat me almost to death to see how much my bones could take. If they broke, they’d rush me to surgery again. And the cycle repeated. It could last days on end, sometimes even weeks, being beaten half to death and being opened up again. They said they were building me into a real man, and a real soldier.”

The doctor tried to speak, but Toji wasn’t finished. 

“Once the cycle was over, I was in excruciating pain for a couple days. They’d heal me enough to keep training. The pain drove me insane, and almost killed me. The pain eventually stopped, and I could actually live my life again. But every six months or so, they would re-do the surgery to keep up with my growing bones. They weren’t even sure if I could stand that many surgeries, I was their guinea pig. And the pain, the fucking pain. I swore every time I would kill myself. But I didn’t. I handled the pain, and I grew into the strong soldier they wanted me to be.”

Once Toji was speaking, the room was silent. No one knew what to say, not after what he had told them. The amount of pain and bitterness in Toji’s words made it clear he really hadn’t wanted to talk about it.

“So now you’ve heard it. Good riddance,” Toji said, getting up from the bed and walking out of the door. 

Touya was quick to jump up, pushing the nurse out of his way, as he ran after Toji who had already managed to disappear.

Chapter Text

Toji’s breathing was quick. He ran up each and every staircase, not stopping for even a single breath. He ran until he got to the roof, where he stopped for a second to breathe. He sat against a wall, trying to calm himself.

But his hands were shaking, breathing irregular and brains full of those ugly memories he had so hard tried to forget. 

With his shaky hands he pulled a small knife from the slot made for it in his boot. He stared at it, but couldn't focus his eyes. He swallowed hard, before quickly pressing the blade into his thigh. The pain stung him immediately, clearing his mind a bit. 

The blood started pouring through the hole he had made to his pants. But it was nowhere near enough. His shaky hands pressed the blade into the flesh, deeper than before. Once he pulled it out, the blood gushed out. It entranced Toji, he stared at it, before sinking the blade into his skin again. He closed his eyes, feeling the pain, and the blood running down his thigh. 

He didn’t realize he had passed out, before a pair of hands were shaking him to wake up. Toji opened his eyes to see the terrified face of Touya. 

“Sorry,” Toji muttered under his breath, surprising himself. Never had he apologized, never had he felt the need. But here he sat, covered in his own blood, apologizing to someone he had met only days before. 

“Toji,” Touya’s voice was weak, weaker than he had ever heard it. 

Toji looked down at the ground, unable to face Touya. He felt ashamed that someone had to find him in this state. 

“We need to get you to someone, right now,” Touya tried to pick up Toji, but he shook his head.

“No. I’ll wrap it up and it’ll be fine,” he said, summoning a first-aid kit into his hand.

“Fuck’s sake, at least let me do it,” Touya’s voice was now a bit more stable, which made Toji feel relieved.

Toji let Touya grab the medical kit from his hand, resting his head against the wall. 

“What the fuck is in here?” Touya asked him.

“Oh, hold on, I'll get what you need,” Toji said, taking the box from the man’s hands.

He dug out a white pill, a few kinds of bandages and a thick tube with a small needle on it. He swallowed the white pill dry, before starting to explain what to do with what.

“So first you bandage it up. Use the green bandages first, they speed up the healing time significantly. Then use the thick beige ones, they absorb the blood. Then last, to keep them in place securely, just use the white one. After that you gotta stab me with that needle, it has some magic in it that regenerates blood,” Toji explained calmly.

“How the fuck does that work?” Touya asked.

“Asking me like I’d know,” Toji said, trying to be sarcastic but he was tired.

“Okay, fuck. Can you like, uhh,” Touya hesitated and rubbed his head.

“Take off my pants?” Toji asked. Touya nodded, and it made him laugh. 

“Didn’t know you’d be such a pussy about asking me that,” Toji teased.

“Oh piss off, I’m out here saving your life and you being a prick to me. Real gentleman here.”

“Did I ever ask you to save me?” Toji’s voice was harsher than intended, and Touya went silent.

Toji knew he had fucked up, but he didn’t know how to apologize. So he sat there, waiting for Touya to finish, a deep silence between them.

Once The leg had been wrapped up, Touya stabbed the needle into his thigh, and Toji could feel his blood rushing. It was a familiar feeling, not one of comfort, but of familiarity. 

Once the needle beeped, Toji nodded for the other to take it out. He tried getting up a bit too fast, and his legs ended up giving in under him. But Touya’s arms were around him before he hit the floor, and he helped Toji sit down again, this time sitting next to him. After a bit, Touya broke the silence between them.

“You didn’t ask me to save you and yet I did it anyway,” he said, but it didn’t feel like he was talking to Toji. 

“What a gentleman you are,” Toji said, still a hint of irony in his voice. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt a bit pissed at Touya.

“You flatter me. Thinking I did that for nothing but my own selfish reasons, you must be a real optimist,” Touya answered, and Toji could feel the annoyance in his voice.

“You’re fucking disgusting. You call me an optimist while you’re the one who’s fallen for me. You genuinely think that I care about you? You think that I don’t do this to everyone I meet? Because let me tell you, I do do this to everyone I meet. I meet them, I fuck them, and I leave them. Why do you think you’d be special?” Toji spat at him.

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but I don’t think I’m special. I know I am, I see it in your eyes, in the glances you give me, and the lips you kiss me with. So news flash, I ain’t the only one who’s fallen,” Touya’s face was twisted a bit, and there were a lot of different emotions that were badly hidden. 

Toji looked away, of course he did. What was he supposed to say to something like that? It wasn’t true, it couldn’t be true. Toji didn’t fall for anyone, especially not a guy like that. He was a soldier. There was no emotion, no strings attached to anyone. He was far too strong, and those attachments only slowed him down. 

“Look, I-”, Toji didn’t have time to finish his sentence, before Touya’s harsh lips were on his. 

He closed his eyes, only for Touya to pull away. He smirked at Toji, raising an eyebrow. 

“So you haven’t fallen, huh?” Touya seemed to know he was right. He was silent for a second, before continuing. “Listen man, I get it if you’re genuinely not interested. But if you are, why are you letting some fucker tell you what you can or can’t do. You’re stronger than that.”

Toji shook his head. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t love. It was one of the greatest sins you could commit. There was no excuse, no return. But-.

“I’ve already sinned. I left, and I loved. I made that decision, to go with Daisuke, to abandon the only life I knew. I made a choice, I don’t yet know if it’s the right one. But there’s no going back,” Toji spoke, voice firm and confident, trying to hide the doubt in his mind. “So I’ll admit it. I may have fallen for you.”

Touya smiled at him, getting up from the floor, and pulling Toji with him. He pulled the taller teen into a hug, resting his head on his shoulder. Neither of them said anything, and for a while, they just stood there.

Toji could swear the pain in his thigh had gone away when he felt Touya hug him. His gentle arms wrapped around his body, it was like he had found the perfect fit for his broken and bruised body. And ironically, the perfect fit was a body just as bruised as his. Neither of them were whole, but maybe together, they could make one full person.

“Sorry to push you away, but I still haven’t got pants on, and it is quite chilly out here,” Toji said lightly.

“I’m sure I could keep you warm,” Touya purred into his ear, and let his hands fall lower, from his back to his ass.

Toji had to bite his lip to remind himself that this wasn’t the time nor the place for this. He gently pushed Touya off, to which the other replied with a pout. 

“C’mon Touya, this doesn't mean rejection. But we both know this isn’t the time. Maybe once we finally get out of this hospital you can show me your apartment, but not right now,” Toji kissed his lips gently, before finally straightening out. 

“Where are you planning to get pants from? I don’t see a clothing store-”, Touya went silent after a pair of blue jeans appeared in Toji’s hand.

“Oh fuck’s sake, I forgot about you being a fucking toybox,” He rolled his eyes, which made Toji laugh.

“Seriously?” Toji pulled on the pants up to his hips. “A fucking toybox? Is that all you could come up with?”

In a heartbeat, Toji had thrown the older teen up onto his shoulder, and started walking towards the door. 

“WHAT THE FUCK?” Touya yelped.

“You belong to the toybox, you fucking toyboy,” Toji smirked.

Chapter Text

The following weeks Toji spent settling into his new life, outside of the walls of the Academy. He lived with Aizawa and his fiancé, Yamada. Daisuke was also there, looking healthier than ever. Toji smiled anytime he saw the boy bursting with joy and life. They still had regular checks at the hospital, which Toji hated. They always made Toji take off his clothes for a check of how well his wounds were healing. But what reinforced the hatred towards the visits, were the questions. They were full of questions Toji didn't want to answer, memories Toji didn’t want to remember. He mainly stayed quiet, or tried to avoid the questions, with varied success.

Other than the visits to the hospital, Toji was almost enjoying himself. ‘Almost’ being the keyword, because he didn’t enjoy it with his heart. That’s what he reminded himself anytime a smile too big or a laugh too genuine tried to escape his lips. This wasn’t his life. This never could be. But sometimes, only sometimes, when he was talking with Daisuke, or when Yamada cracked a joke so bad Toji couldn’t help but smile, he felt something strange. Almost a kind of comfort.

But there was one more new thing about Toji’s life. Touya. He made Toji feel things he’d never thought possible before. His stomach did backflips whenever they kissed, and when they were apart, Toji would catch himself giggling at the thought of something dumb Touya did. And when they finally reunited after a long day, Toji felt like he was flying, like he was drunk. The world around him spun, and everything felt just a tad funnier. He didn’t know what it was, but he sure liked it.

Obviously, the good times came with worse times. Those times Toji wouldn’t get out of bed for anything but to smoke a few cigarettes, before crashing back to bed. He often woke up in sheets stained with his own blood. Those times, Toji would summon a medkit, wrap up the wounds, inject new blood, and pop one of those white pills. Aizawa had told him that he was worried, but Toji ignored him, and turned the other way in his bed.

Once, when he hadn’t gotten out of bed in over a week, Touya showed up at Aizawas. It took half an hour of asking, pleading and threatening just for Toji to come open the door. He looked horrible, with a pair of black sweatpants and a white tank top, and bandages wrapped around his wrists. They were stained with old blood, and so were his clothes. When Touya jerked slightly at his appearance, Toji just stared at him with emotionless eyes, before turning to walk to bed again.

Touya followed him, closing the door behind them. He cleaned the room a bit, throwing away the trash around Toji’s bed, and piling the dirty dishes into a pile. Once there was some room to walk around, Touya sat on the edge of Toji’s bed. He took the boy’s hand into his, kissing it lightly, before laying it down where it was before. After a while of silence, Touya laid down next to Toji, and when the boy didn't react in any way, he pulled him closer. They laid there, Touya holding onto the other, and slowly, Toji’s arm wrapped around Touya. And so the time passed, and slowly, Toji got out of bed more and more.