Thread by @touykeii

#dabihawks #toukei
alternate universes=> Enemies /and/ lovers
~
Keigo did not wake up in the bed that he remembered falling asleep in. There was no warm body next to him, holding onto him like there was every night since he and his partner moved in together.

Maybe that was what

woke him up. He'd never been a great sleeper, and ever since he was held, he couldn't fall or stay asleep with it.

Keigo tossed the blankets down his body... he was wearing the same clothes. Plaid pajama pants, blue and purple with thin black stripes. A loose white t-shirt and

pink fuzzy slippers pulled up past his ankles. Everything was the same, except... that was not his room or bed or apartment.

Forcing himself to calm down, Keigo stood from the bed, rubbing the back of his neck. He and Touya were drinking last night, celebrating... did they

crash at a friends? Even if they did, that woulnd't explain where Touya was. He never got out of bed before Keigo if he could help it.

The apartment room was bare like... completely. White walls devoid of any decoration, white sheets, white blanket. Pale white carpet and a

small basket holding his feathers. He didn't put his feathers in a basket... they were always in a small box on the end table that... wasn't there.

Okay, so he very clearly wasn't in his home but the feathers they /were/ his. Keigo reattached them to his back, pulling his wings

tight to his back. At the very least that felt right.

Carefully, Keigo pushed open the door on the other side of the room, revealing an open hallway, just as bare as anything else.

"Touya?" Keigo called but was met with only silence. Where /was/ he?

Suddenly, his hearing

picked up on something or /someone/ outside the front door.

Keigo chewed on his bottom lip, padding over to the pale door and looking through the peep hole. He saw only black hair and blue eyes before he was pulling the door open with a breath of relief.

He didn't have time

register Touya's shock at seeing him before throwing his arms around Touya, holding him tight.

"Oh thanks gods," Keigo breathed, voice catching in his throat. "Where were you?" he asked right as Touya pushed him back into the apartment, away from him.

His hands were hot on

Keigo's chest, singing his shirt. Keigo stumbled back as the door was pulled shut behind him by Touya.

"The /fuck/ was that?" Touya demanded but... it wasn't Touya. No, Touya /never/ spoke to Keigo like that but... he looked /just/ like him.

Keigo shook his head, backing up

away from the not-Touya.

"Um," he tried, spinning his wedding ring around his finger, "I-"

The man glared at Keigo, eyes burning blue and Keigo realized for the first time how much worse his scars were. Like they were freshly opened...

"have you been using your quirk?"

Keigo asked, forgetting that this definitely /wasn't/ his husband and only worrying for Touya's wellbeing.

"The fuck!" Touya yelled, blue fire licking up his hand.

Keigo gasped, "Touya! You can't be doing that!" Before he could react, Touya had him slammed against the wall

knocking the breath from him.

"How do you know that name?" Touya demanded, Keigo coughed, wincing.

"What are you talking about?" Keigo asked, voice hoarse.

"/No one/ knows that name," he growled. Sweat dripped down Keigo's face from the heat of Touya's flames.

"Darling I-"

"Excuse me?" Touya yelled in question pushing away from Keigo, "who the hell /are/ you?"

"This isn't funny," Keigo exclaimed, rubbing the back of his neck, "you're worrying me."

"You're not even supposed to /be/ here!" Touya said, running a hand through his

hair.

"Touya-"

"My name is Dabi," he snarled and Keigo blinked at him.

"Dabi," he muttered, shaking his head, "no it's not, is this some kind of prank?"

"As if," Dabi said, crossing his arms over his chest, "you're /supposed/ to be on a mission."

"A mission!" Keigo

exclaimed, almost laughing. "You're kidding me right?"

"Come on Hawks, cut the act, what are you doing back?" Dabi asked but Keigo shook his head again.

"Hawks? I'm sorry, is that a new nickname?"

"Did you run into one too many windmills hero?" Dabi asked, narrowing his

eyes into slits, glaring.

"I... what the hell is going on," Keigo mumbled, mostly to himself. "Where am I?" he asked.

"Don't start with me," Dabi rolled his eyes but Keigo set his mouth in a thin line.

"Look," he snapped, finally grabbing Dabi's attention, "you are not /my/

Touya, and this is /not/ my home so I'll ask again, where the /hell/ am I?"

Dabi took in a breath, "you're serious?"

"Incredibly."

"You're... not Hawks?" Dabi asked and Keigo shook his head.

"I don't know who that is," Keigo said and Dabi frowned deeper, pacing into the

kitchen, through the main hall and to the left. Dabi seemed to know it better than Keigo did.

"A hero," Dabi said, "fucking asshole traitor bitch."

"That's quite vulgar," Keigo said, scratching the back of his head.

"What did you mean /your/ Touya?" Dabi asked but Keigo only

folded his arms over his chest.

"My husband," Keigo said simply. Dabi choked, falling into a fit of coughing and laughing... something in between.

"You're kidding me, in no universe would I /ever/ get with /you/!" Dabi laughed again but Keigo eyes shot up.

"Universe-"

he muttered, "oh gods, this isn't my universe!"

"Huh?" Dabi asked, recovering from his fit.

"You're the Touya of this universe but I- I'm not the Keigo of this one."

Dabi's eyes widened, "you just told me your name."

"What?"

"Your name is like some huge kept secret and

you just said it out loud," Dabi said, he had already known Hawks's real name but the /real/ Hawks would never be so careless. "You really aren't my Hawks."

"Yeah," Keigo muttered, "okay so I've obviously come into /your/ universe which logically means your... Hawks is in

mine... and from the way your greeted me I can easily say you're not friends but... oh gods!"

"What?" Dabi demanded.

"Your Hawks is going to wake up next to my Touya... naked."
~
Touya ran his fingers up Keigo's bicep, trailing them back down until he reached his back of his

elbow.

Touya kissed his shoulder softly, snaking an arm around Keigo's waist but no sooner had his fingers touched Keigo's skin was Touya pushed onto his back and something sharp held against his neck.

"Dabi!" Keigo yelled, and Touya caught a glimpse of red feather, sharpened

in Keigo's hand.

"What?" He choked, trying to move as little as possible.

"How the hell did you get in here?" Keigo demanded but Touya stared up at him.

It looked like Keigo except... his hair was shorter, there was a large scar on his up his neck and looked so much meaner.

"Wa- love, are you feeling alright?" Touya asked and a glimpse of shock crossed Keigo's face.

"The fuck did you call me!" Keigo exclaimed. Touya opened his mouth and closed it.

"Um... Kei, what's going on?"

Keigo pulled back, falling back on the bed, landing on his ass. His

eyes were wide with shock.

"H-how do you know that name?"
~
tbc

"Darling, I know we drank last night but-" Touya tried but the blonde shook his head, scrambling off the bed and holding out his weaponized feather.

"/who/ told you that name?"

"Kei, come on I've known you forever, are you feeling alright?" Touya asked, slipping from the bed

causing the blonde to immediately look away, spinning around.

"Gods you're /naked/!" the blonde's face burned hot but Touya only frowned, putting his hands on his hips.

"You say that like it's an issue... like /you/ weren't the one undressing me last night!" Touya exclaimed

huffing out a breath.

"I would /never/ even /think/ about it!" he shouted but Touya frowned deeper, walking up to the blonde and touching his arm.

"Kei-"

"Stop it!" the blonde pulled away, backing up, "I don't know what you did to get me here o-or why you...

don't really look like Dabi or why you know my name but this is wrong, all wrong!"

Touya lifted an eyebrow, "Dabi?" he asked, shaking his head, "Who's that?"

"Don't play dumb with me villain!" he yelled.

"Villain?" Touya scoffed, "oh I get it, this is some kind of role play

thing right? Alright love, I'll play along," he cracked a smile that Hawks couldn't take his eyes off of it. His face, his... everything was nothing like the Dabi he knew.

Touya approached the blonde, putting his hands on his hips, pressing against his back, "so if I'm the

villain who are you?" Touya whispered, breath against Hawks's ear, he shivered.

Hawks pushed him back, away from him, clenching his jaw.

"You're trying to get inside my head!" Hawks yelled and Touya smirked.

"I'm certainly trying to get in /some/ part of you darling," Touya

smiled wider.

"Cut it out, Dabi!" Hawks said, running a hand through his head and pulling off his jacket, throwing it at him. "Put some clothes on!"

Touya caught it, looking at the beige cloth and fur, "Where did you get this?" he asked.

"Seriously?" Hawks demanded, "what

is wrong with you?"

"Me?" Touya asked, "you're the one acting all weird, and who the hell is Dabi?"

"You are!" Hawks yelled.

Touya shook his head, "last time I checked my name was Touya."

"Is that your real name?" Hawks asked and Touya blinked at him.

"It's... my only

name. Should we go see a doctor?" Touya asked.

"No, no-" Hawks paced, pulling his wings tight to his chest, "you know my name but you... don't know your name."

"For the last time, I'm not Dabi... I've been Touya Todoroki my entire life."

Hawks's eyes blew wide, "Todoroki!"

like -like "son of Endeavor?"

Touya narrowed his eyes, "who?"

"Endeavor, number one hero, Enji Todoroki!" Hawks said but Touya choked out a laugh.

"My dad a hero? Yeah, okay sure," he laughed, shaking his head, "you know my dad's a uni professor."

"No- he's not!" Hawks

exclaimed, "who's number one hero!"

Touya shrugged, "I dunno, Mirko?"

"No, she's number 5, I'm two and Endeavor is one."

"Sweetheart, I love you, I really do, but you are not a hero, we're lawyers." Touya said, crossing the room to a dresser and grabbing a picture frame.

He handed it over to the blonde and Hawks stared at the photo. The photo that... he was in.

But it wasn't him. It couldn't be.

He was standing next to Touya in a cap and gown, Law degrees in hand. His lips were on Touya's cheek.

"No," he whispered, "this isn't me."

"Yes it is," Touya said, grabbing sweatpants and a t-shirt from his drawer and throwing them on. "At least, it's /my/ Keigo and you... you're not him."

"And you're not Dabi," Hawks breathed, "Call me Hawks, it's too weird hearing my name from /your/ mouth." Hawks said.

"So you /are/ Keigo... Hawks?" Touya asked and Hawks nodded.

"Keigo Takami, number two hero and Dabi is, I guess you could say my sworn enemy."

"But your Dabi is... me?" Touya asked and when Hawks nodded, Touya ran a hand over his face, "right but my Keigo is my husband."

"Husband!" Hawks shouted and Touya nodded, "but you're not a villain here?"

"Here?" Touya asked.

"Wherever I am, which is most definitely not my normal world." Hawks said.

"I'm not a villain... are you saying you think you're in an alternate universe?"

"Parallel,

alternate, something like that," Hawks muttered, "I was on a mission, dealing with a group of villains with unknown quirks. My job was to figure out what they were and report back but... one of them must have caught wind of what I was doing and.... sent me here?"

Touya shook his head, "so... where's my Keigo?"

Hawks pressed his lips into a tight line, "in my world."

"B-but he's no hero, gods he couldn't hurt a fly! A-and your Touya... will he hurt him!" Touya asked, fear gripping him.

"I don't know, Dabi's not stupid but he hates my

guts, I can't imagine he'll take kindly to..."

"Enough," Touya muttered, "I need to get him back," he said.

Hawks nodded, "I need to get back, if we find the same person who sent me here, then we can have her send me back."

"Great," Touya said with a nod, "what's her name?"

Hawks scratched the back of his head, "I... don't know."
~
"Where are we going?" Keigo asked and Dabi held an iron grip on his wrist, dragging him through the city, a maze of alley's and hidden paths.

"My apartment," he grumbled, pulling the hood over his head as rain poured

down on them.

"Why?" Keigo asked and Dabi shot a glare at him.

"You always talk so much?" Dabi asked and Keigo frowned.

"My Touya likes it," he muttered, and Dabi rolled his eyes.

"Well I'm not him and I can't stand your grating voice." Dabi said and Keigo's frown

deepened. "In this world you're a hero, the number two hero."

"What!" Keigo exclaimed and Dabi spun around, covering his mouth.

"Be quiet will you!" he snapped, pulling Keigo behind a building, away from the streets view. "If anyone sees you they'll expect you to act like

Hawks, villains will want to fuck you up and the commission will fuck you up even more."

"The commission?" Keigo asked and Dabi groaned.

"Do you know anything!" he snapped again, "the commission, the people that raised you!"

Keigo shook his head, "I was raised in a foster

home."

"Not /here/ dumbass," Dabi muttered, "look, this world either wants you to be their savior or wants you dead, right now you're neither so I'm taking you to /my/ apartment to keep you safe until this is all worked out."

They started walking again, Dabi's grip still like

iron on Keigo's wrist.

"I thought you hated me?" Keigo said.

"I hate Hawks," Dabi muttered, "you're not him."

"But I am from a different universe," Keigo said, looking up at Dabi.

Dabi let out a breath, "in your universe, i'm married to you, right?" Keigo nodded, "right,

I'm not above killing, but killing my own partner from a different universe? I'll pass. Besides, only the gods know what that will cause."

"Right," Keigo whispered, walking the rest of the way in silence. When they came upon a brown door to a small room in an apartment, Dabi

unlocked it and pushed Keigo inside.

"you should hope Hawks figures this out quick because I only have one bed and I'm not sleeping on the floor."

tbc

"You're kidding me right?" Keigo muttered, frowning, "no way!"

"You fond of dying birdie?" Dabi asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Keigo frowned but shook his head, "great then you'll stay here and stay?"

"But who knows how long I'll be here!" Keigo exclaimed, narrowing

his eyes at Dabi.

"Even more reason to play it safe," Dabi said. His home was small. A one room apartment that doubled as a bedroom, kitchen and a small tiny room as a bathroom.

"Shouldn't we like, be trying to figure out how to get me back to my world?" Keigo asked, sitting

down on the bed. It was a twin size, hardly big enough for one of Keigo's wings.

"And where do you suppose we do that?" Dabi asked, opening a cabinet and pulling out a bag of uncooked rice and tossing it onto a small table two feet from the bed.

"I dunno, the police? Hero

agencies?" Keigo said though as soon as he did he realized his fault.

"And who's going to bring that up? You, the look-alike /nothing/ from another universe or me, the highly-wanted villain?"

Keigo rolled his eyes, "I'm not nothing," he muttered, "i'm a lawyer. Touya /and/ I

are lawyers."

"Gross," Dabi muttered, filling a pot with water and a couple cups of rice before putting it on a portable stove.

"At least my Touya isn't a killer," Keigo bit.

"Well your Touya didn't go through half the shit I did," Dabi snapped, turning around and facing

Keigo. "Looks like neither did you."

"You don't know anything about me," Keigo said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Dabi gave him a once over before rolling his eyes again, "let me guess, the extent of your trauma is... you didn't get the newest clothing trends because

your foster family was tight on money?" he sneered. Keigo clenched his jaw and looked away.

"I don't have to defend myself to you," he muttered and Dabi scoffed, turning back to the pot, watching the water boil up. "Don't act like you know anything!"

"Your refusal is answer

enough."

Keigo shook his head, standing from the bed and storming over to Dabi. He grabbed the villain's arm and spun him around, using the flat of his palm to push him against the wall.

"You wanna know my past?" he asked rhetorically, narrowing his eyes into dangerous slits.

"My father forced my mother to have me, wished I came out a girl but I didn't. No one to work his in his... business when I got older until he realized maybe that's exactly what he needed. A pretty little boy to drive clients in." Dabi tried to pull away but Keigo was far

stronger than he looked and he doubled his efforts of keeping him in place. "You don't what to know the lengths my brain had gone to block out /those/ memories and I doubt you want to know the gritty details of what people are willing to do to a four year old with pretty blonde

hair, golden eyes and the beginnings of wings like nothing anyone's seen before. You can't imagine what anyone would /pay/ to-" Keigo's breath caught before he pushed away and turned.

He rung his hands together, shaking his head. He didn't owe Dabi an explanation but he... said

it anyway. He looked too much like his Touya, too much but he was /nothing/ like his husband. Dabi was silent, mouth pressed together in a tight line.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, words that didn't often leave his lips.

Keigo shook his head again, running a hand through his

hair, "I may not be a hero but I'm a lawyer for a reason. People like my father don't deserve to walk free."

Dabi nodded, "that's... yeah, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."

Keigo turned around again, facing Dabi. The softness of his voice, the sadness... for the

first time it sounded like his husband.

"I'm still not giving you the bed," Dabi said and Keigo choked out a laugh, shrugging.

"Fine by me, if you're anything like my Touya then you steal blankets," Keigo said, clutching the edges of his t-shirt.

"I do not," Dabi said

"not that it matters."

"I happen to like the floor," Keigo said, sitting down on the ground beside the bed. "But I will take a pillow."

"I guess I'll give you a sheet for a blanket."

"Wow you /are/ a villain," Keigo said, laughing and Dabi rolled his eyes, a small chuckle

escaping his lips. He never thought he'd ever have such a casual conversation with Hawks even if it wasn't exactly... Hawks. It was close enough.

Dabi would have thought he'd hate Hawks in every universe... but obviously /this/ Keigo was pleasant enough to have his counterpart

marry him but and make him not hate being in his company.

He pulled the pot from the portable stove and portioned the rice into one bowl, keeping part of it in the pot for himself.

"Salmon?" He asked.

"Huh?"

"For dinner," Dabi muttered, "not like I'm gonna let you starve."

"Oh, sure, anything's fine," Keigo said with a small

smile, pulling his knees to his chest and hooking his arms around them. "So," he said softly, "why are you a villain?"

"We are so not trauma bonding right now," Dabi laughed grabbing leftover salmon from his tiny ass fridge and laying the pieces of the beds to rice.

"No but

you know my sob story, it's only fair." Keigo said, taking the bowl that Dabi held out to him.

"No chance," Dabi said and Keigo shrugged, letting it drop. Dabi stared at him, blinking in awe. He looked /identical/ to his Hawks but it was almost like he was completely different.

His Hawks would have never let go of a topic so easily, especially if it was something he wanted to know.

But /Keigo/... he was like a completely different person. Dabi supposed they were.
~
"You don't know?" Touya gaped, rubbing his hands over his face. "Please tell me you're

joking."

Hawks shook his head, "it's not like I was given a profile of them, only their villain name. My /job/ was to figure out who it was."

"Well you did a /great/ job with that," Touya snapped, running his hands from his face through his hair before shaking his head.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, "that's not fair I just... I'm worried about my Keigo. What if your... Dabi? Hurts him?"

Hawks shook his head and touch Touya's arm gently, "that's if he even finds him," he said, "but the sooner I figure this out the better. If the public see's

him they'll expect him to be me and from what you've said he's... no hero."

Touya agreed, "he's a killer fighter in court but out in the streets, not so much."

"Right, well, chances are he'll realize something is wrong and stay put lets just hope Dabi doesn't swing by my

place."

"Your place? I thought you were on a mission." Touya asked.

"I was but it was close enough that I could fly back. Must have been a delay on the quirk." Hawks explained and Touya nodded.

"And if Dabi does?"

"He'll know it's not me, after that... I don't know what

he'll do. Dabi's unpredictable."

"That sounds nothing like me," Touya said, pacing the length of his room.

"But it's him, a pain in my ass," he muttered. Touya stopped and looked sideways at him.

"Have you and Dabi ever... had a physical /altercation/?" he asked and Keigo's

eyes blew wide.

"What!" he exclaimed, "ew, no!"

Touya shrugged, "i only asked cause well, Keigo and I are attracted to each other so... I thought-"

"you thought wrong," Hawks said, "there is absolutely nothing I am less attracted to than Dabi."

Touya hummed softly, nodding

before smiling softly, "you know as a lawyer, we get really good at distinguishing lies from truth."

"So?" Hawks snapped. Touya raked his eyes over Hawks and shook his head before shrugging.

"Just...you'll find it easier to lie to yourself than to me." Touya said. Earning a

glare from Hawks.

"I'm not lying to you /or/ myself!" he exclaimed, wings puffing out. Touya cocked his head and hummed.

"If you say so."

tbc

"I'm actually quite acquainted with sleeping on the floor," Keigo said, laying down and pulling the blanket Dabi had given him over his body. Apparently the villain ran warm... so did Touya.

Fire quirk and all.

"Try the streets then come back to me," Dabi said, settling into

his bed. Keigo let out a low chuckle.

"Cute," the blonde muttered, "poor villain had to sleep on some concrete. How about gravel? Or broken glass?" he asked and Dabi leaned over, narrowing his eyes.

"No way," he said but Keigo shrugged, sitting up and lifting the edges of his

t-shirt to show an array of broken glass, might as well have been shrapnel scarring. "Damn," Dabi breathed, "so you /really/ don't mind sleeping on the floor."

Keigo cracked a smile and rolled his eyes, dropping the shirt and laying down again, head resting on a pillow. "Nah,"

he said, "hardly the worst."

"You're not as... pretentious as you first seemed," Dabi muttered, watching as Keigo closed his eyes. settling in.

"And you're not as scary, you sure you're a villain?" Keigo asked lightheartedly but Dabi didn't respond. He rolled onto his back

and stared up at the ceiling.

Then, "of course I am," he said, "I've killed people."

"I've defended plenty of people who killed someone else and won." Keigo said but Dabi only scoffed.

"I'd hardly call this case self-defense," he said.

"Maybe not," Keigo mused, "but

you're protecting me without a reason, bad people don't usually do that."

"I have a reason," Dabi snapped, "don't look for redeeming qualities sweetheart, I don't have any." Keigo choked out another laugh.

"If you say so."

"the hell is that supposed to mean?" Dabi demanded.

"Lawyers are good at distinguishing lies from truth."

"I'm not lying!" Dabi exclaimed, "i can throw you out on the street in a second!"

"Do it," Keigo challenged, keeping his eyes closed, "but you won't."

"You don't know that," Dabi snapped, rolling back to his side and

glaring at the blonde but the fucker was curled up on the floor.

"What's stopping you then?" Keigo asked and Dabi grumbled.

"I don't have to explain myself to you," he said and the corners of Keigo's lifted lifted.

"Of course not," Keigo said, "I have all the answers I need

anyway."

"No you don't!"

"Goodnight Dabi," Keigo said, biting down on his lip to keep in a laugh.

"This isn't over!" Dabi sat up but Keigo remained still.

"Aren't you going to say goodnight back?"

"I hope you have a shit night," Dabi grumbled earning a small giggle from

Keigo.

"How villainous of you," Keigo said, yawning, "night," he muttered.

Dabi let out a sigh, falling onto his back again, "night," he whispered, wondering why the hell he /coulnd't/ find it in him to kick Keigo to the streets.
~
"You need to sleep," Touya said, walking up

to the table where Hawks sat, typing away on a computer, an array of paper and pens in front of him.

"I need to get back to my world," Hawks said, not looking up from the table.

"A workaholic in every life I see," Touya sighed, pulling out a chair and sitting down. He grabbed

a book from the bookshelf next to them and flipped it open.

"What are you doing?" Hawks asked. Touya looked over his reading glasses at those familiar golden eyes.

"Sitting with you until you sleep," Touya said.

"Don't do that," Hawks demanded but Touya only smiled.

"Well I am, and if you want me to sleep then you will to," Touya said, and Hawks gaped at him.

"You're manipulating me!" he exclaimed and Touya laughed softly.

"You may not be /my/ husband but you are still Keigo and I'll always care about... any part of him even if it's you.

And that includes getting you enough sleep, so come on, you'll be able to focus much better after a night's rest." Touya said, and when Hawks sighed, Touya knew his success.

"Fine," he grumbled, "um, how do we... go about this?"

"About what?"

"Sleeping arrangements? Do you

have a spare bed?" Keigo asked. Touya shook his head.

"I can take the couch," Touya said, "you have the bed."

"I'm not taking the bed from you," Hawks said, putting his hands on his hips that was so very /Keigo/ Touya couldn't help but smile.

"Then we share, its more than

large enough," Touya said and maybe it was because he said it so calmly that Hawks didn't argue. He only nodded once.

He didn't really want to sleep on the couch either. Honestly it was the best option and he was entirely certain that Touya wasn't going to murder him in his

sleep.

"Will it not be... weird?" Hawks asked. Touya stood and shook his head, closing the laptop, forcing Hawks to stand.

"I've shared a bed with Keigo since I'd barely known him, my family used to foster him and his brother, we had the space but my room only had one bed and

for some reason both of them trusted me enough to stay with me."

Hawks looked sideways at him, "I don't have a brother," he said, following Touya into the bedroom he'd waken up in.

"Not biological," he explained, "Tenko's his foster brother, they'd been with each other in the

system forever." Touya said.

"Oh," Hawks whispered, "well... good, glad one of us had a decent childhood." He ran into Touya's back as Touya stopped suddenly.

"Assumptions are human's worst enemy," he said softly, "foster system was nice to Keigo but... everything before

wasn't."

"Right," Hawks said softly, "I didn't mean to... assume I guess."

Touya shook his head, "it's easy to see him and I and think we came from amazing places but life hasn't been easy, /especially/ for him."

Hawks nodded, "i get it," he whispered, "people think the

same of me," he said.

Touya's eyes burned with tears but he blinked them away, reaching out and touching Hawks's face gently, "gods you... look too much like him and i-i know you /are/ him but you're not and I... miss him."

Hawks nodded again, "I'll get him back to you, I

promise," he said as Touya dropped his hand, letting it fall to his side.

"Thank you," he whispered, "I can't live without him."

Hawks lowered his eyes and let out a soft sigh, "I know what you mean."
~
tbc

Dabi didn't care about people. It just wasn't his thing and yet when he woke in the middle of the night to blankets ruffling and small whimpers he couldn't help but he concerned.

His first reaction was to tell Keigo off for waking him up but when he leaned over the side of the

bed to see Keigo's face pulled into a grimace, sweat dripping down his forehead- his shirt sticky to his chest- and pained groans coming from his barely parted lips, something pulled at his chest.

How often had he woken up in a similar state? Afraid, unsure of where he was.

Dabi sighed softly to himself, he was a villain sure, but he wasn't a complete asshole and he guessed that some part of Keigo was tolerable.

Slipping from the bed, Dabi crouched next to the blonde, reaching out for his shoulder, gently shaking it.

Keigo gasped softly but his

eyes kept close.

"Keigo," Dabi whispered, just quiet enough to not be speaking normally, "hey, birdie," he called, shaking his shoulder again.

With a start, Keigo jolted awake, breathing heavy. He took one look at Dabi before throwing his arms around his neck, letting out a

breath of relief, "Touya," he sighed, burying his head into his husbands neck except... no, that wasn't right.

"Not quite," Dabi muttered, Keigo began to pull away but Dabi wrapped one arm around him, "it's alright," he said softly and the tension melted from Keigo's shoulders.

"Im sorry," Keigo whispered, shaking his head, still buried in Dabi's neck, "bad dream."

"Yeah," Dabi breathed, "I get it."

Slowly, Keigo took in a breath and let it out, the air tickling the hairs on Dabi's neck. "I'm okay now," Keigo said, pulling away.

Dabi let his arms

drop, nodding.

"Hey," he said, "take the bed, I don't need it."

"No, no," Keigo shook his head, "I'm alright, seriously," he tried but Dabi frowned and rolled his eyes before slipping his arms under Keigo and lifting him up.

Gods, he was heavy but he held him up before

dropping him on the bed, and glaring. "Stay put," he said.

"I'm not an animal," Keigo drawled. Dabi raised an eyebrow, glancing at the large pile of red feathers on the floor.

"Right," Dabi said, picking up the blanket and pillow from the floor and tossing them to Keigo.

"I told you I was fine," Keigo said, huffing.

"Suck it up," Dabi said, crossing his arms over his chest, "just...sleep."

Keigo pressed his lips together and sighed, "I don't mind sleeping on the floor."

"Ever the philanthropist."

"That is so not the right use of that

word," Keigo remarked

Dabi rolled my eyes, "suck my dick," he muttered, "i didn't go to a fancy law school."

Keigo shook his head, sliding to the far side of the bed, "share with me."

"Seriously?" Dabi asked and Keigo nodded.

"I'm not afraid of you," Keigo said and Dabi

blinked at him. That was new. Most people were. "Look, this is gonna sound stupid but you... look like Touya-"

"Great observation," Keigo threw a pillow at him.

"/Listen/," he said, "I've always slept better in Touya's presence."

"I'm not your Touya."

"No, but you're the

closest I have," Keigo said softly, his eyes filling with tears before he blinked them away. Dabi saw them, sighing.

"Alright," he said, "fine, move over," he threw the pillow back to the bed and slipped under the blanket. "You're not gonna... canoodle me right?"

Keigo laughed softly, shaking his head, "no," he said, "I mean, Touya usually holds me but that's-"

"I can..." Dabi shifted, "do that."

"What?"

"Never mind, stupid." Dabi said, rolling onto his side, facing away from Keigo.

The mattress dipped as Keigo rolled over, "you'd

hold me?"

"I mean, its not like I /like/ you, but don't wantcha to keep waking up," Dabi said, huffing out a breath, "you'll wake me up."

"It wouldn't be weird?" Keigo asked and Dabi rolled over, slipping an arm around Keigo and pulling his back to his chest in one quick

movement.

"No," Dabi said softly, "just dont want you to keep me up will all your whining," he said but there was a kind of fondness in his voice that make Keigo think of Touya.

He wondered if hero and villain were all Dabi and Hawks were.

"Thanks," Keigo said softly,

relaxing against Dabi. "You're warm... like him," he said.

Dabi scoffed, "no shit, fire quirk.

Keigo hummed, "feel like him," he muttered, voice dipping low with tiredness his body was already succumbing to.

"Yeah?" Dabi asked, whispering. Keigo only hummed again, leaning

against him before falling asleep. "Is he like you?" Dabi asked, knowing Keigo wasn't going to answer. He wasn't sure he wanted one. "Is my Hawks... like you?"
~
Hawks woke up to an empty bed and the scent of waffles floating through the air. There was a stack of clothes on a

chair next to the bed with a note containing his name and few other bullet points.

/Supplies in bathroom for you/
/Feel free to take a shower or bath if you'd like/
/I'll have breakfast ready/
...
/I have an idea/

Hawks rushed through his morning

routine, taking the fastest shower ever, scrubbing his teeth and face before throwing on the extra clothes and jogging to the room where breakfast smelled the strongest.

Kitchen.

Touya stood at the counter, pouring batter into a waffle maker.

"Hey," he said and Touya turned

giving him a small smile.

"Hi," he said, "coffee?" he asked.

"Sure," Hawks said, searching for the coffee pot but Touya was already grabbing a mug from a cabinet and crossed the kitchen to where the coffee machine was.

He filled the cup before dropping two sugar cubes in

a splash of milk. Touya looked at the cup in his hand, his hands shaking.

He sniffled softly, shaking his head, "sorry I... didn't even ask how you like it. This is how-" his chin trembled and before he could drop the mug, Hawks took it from his hands.

"It's perfect," he said

and Touya looked up at him with tears falling down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry," he said, shaking his head and rubbing his face. A beeping filled the air as the waffle machine went off. Touya took care of it as Hawks walked around to the other side of the counter.

"It's alright," he reassured Touya, "you miss him."

"It hasn't even been that long but just... knowing he's in a different /world/ I-" he sniffled again, "he's resilient, he'll be okay, I know but..." he shook his head, turning off the waffle machine.

Touya pushed open the

laptop that was sitting adjacent to his plate of waffles, and turned it on.

"Okay," Touya said, sighing, taking in a slow breath before letting it out, "a parallel universe, or maybe not but it is an alternate universe. The fact that we both exist in our respective world means

that probably so does the person who caused this. All quirks are recorded in a database by the government in each country. I've compiled a list of /all/ quirks related to or exact matches for what we're looking for."

Hawks nodded slowly, "impressive," he said, "how many are

there?"

"Several thousand at first, but I did some more thinking," he said, bringing the laptop around the counter for Hawks to see, "alternate universe is our best working theory right?"

"Right?"

"So, chances of our guy being a villain in this world too? Low, I'd say

less than point zero, zero, zero, seven percent. Don't ask where I got that, just trust me. By assuming that, I can knock out all villains. How old are you?"

Hawks blinked at him, then, "uh- 24," he said.

Touya smiled, "great, then we can assume that between our two universes

the ages remain relatively consistent, if your Touya is 25."

"He is."

"Perfect," Touya breathed, typing into the computer and the list shortened drastically. From hundreds of pages, to only fifty. Still too many. "I'll kept a margin of error of five years on each side.

What the villain's sex?"

"Male," Hawks said.

Touya nodded again, typed something into the computer and the list shortened again. He let out a breath, "okay," he said, "twenty-three pages of names."

"That's still too many," Hawks said, "it could take me months to track

everyone down."

Touya looked sideways at him and smiled, "but there is one more thing we can take into consideration, location. We're in Japan, so are you which could mean that so is our guy. If I remove names outside of Japan..." he types into the computer, his fingers flying

on the keys, "then we only have forty-four candidates."

Hawks blinked at the computer and then up at Touya. "Did you sleep at all?" he asked.

"Not a wink," Touya replied, shaking his head, "but it won't matter. I've made a /lot/ of assumptions but we have to start somewhere.

I say we just go down the list one by one until we find him."

"We?" Hawks asked and Touya nodded.

"This is my husband we're talking about, I need him back."

"But we don't know anything about these people," Hawks exclaimed and something dark passed over Touya's face.

"Exactly why you shouldn't go alone, honestly it might be too much by ourselves... so I've called in some help," Touya said, smiling.

"What? Who!" Hawks asked, "this is a potentially incredibly dangerous situation."

Touya lifted his chin, "which is exactly why I called him.

Keigo's brother, he's on his way and he... lets just say he can be incredibly persuasive."

A knock sounded on the door and Touya's smile widened. He crossed the room, down the hall until he reached the door and pulled it open.

Hawks followed closely behind Touya and pulled

a sharp feather from his back when he saw who it was.

Tomura Shigaraki. Hawks pushed Touya behind him and held out his weaponized feather.

"Woah!" Touya exclaimed, "what are you doing?"

"He's dangerous!"

The man's hand shot out, fingers wrapping around the feather and

crumbling it.

"It's rude to point weapons," he said blandly and Touya stepped in between them.

"Hawks," he exclaimed, "this is Tenko, Kei's brother."

Hawks shook his head, "no, that's Tomura Shigaraki."

Tenko blinked at him, cocking his head, "he really does look like

Keigo," he remarked, "so, my code name is Tomura in your world?" he asked.

Hawks ran a hand over his face, of course it wouldn't really be Tomura. "Sorry," Hawks said, holding out his hand. Tenko pulled on a glove and took Hawks's hand. "Yeah, you're... a villain leader."

Tenko laughed softly, "dope," he muttered, before Touya shot him a look. He held up his hands in surrender. "So, we starting?"

"What?" Hawks asked.

Tenko rolled his eyes, glancing at Touya, "the search," he said, "I want my brother back."

"Yeah," Touya said, nodding,

"let's go."

tbc

"Thank you for your time," Touya said, bowing his head before turning around and taking in a deep breath. He left the home with Hawks and Tenko, hopelessness heavy in his heart.

How had it been a week already? As soon as they slipped back into the car, Touya slammed his fist

against the steering wheel before laying his forehead on the top of it, tears flooding his eyes. They only had gotten through half of the candidates.

With travel distance and the time it took to actually convince the strangers to speak with them... Touya feared they were

running out of time.

"Easy," Tenko said gently, rubbing Touya's shoulder, "we'll find him."

Touya shook his head, "/maybe/, but if /any/ of my assumptions were wrong... I'll never get him back," his voice caught and broke in his throat.

Tenko turned to Hawks, "can't you

be any more helpful?" he asked and Hawks scowled at him.

"I'm doing all I can, you think I want to be stuck here?" Hawks asked, shaking his head.

"I think you like Touya's company, maybe /too/ much," Tenko said, narrowing his eyes into slits.

"The hell are you saying?"

Hawks demanded.

"He makes you breakfast, you get a nice warm bed to sleep in, no one is making you do shitty hero work," Tenko clenched his hands into fists, "you look like Keigo, maybe you're hoping that's enough to win him over! Stay here for good."

"Enough!" Touya snapped

rubbing his face and putting pressure on his temples to ease the impending headache, "I can't think with your nonsense. I can't wait another week, I need a different stategy."

"Tou," Tenko said, "how can you just trust him?"

Touya glanced over and met his eyes, "cause...

it's Keigo," he said softly, "maybe not, /my/ Keigo but I have to believe that whatever the universe world we'd always care for each other in some way."

"That's ridiculous," Tenko muttered.

"Wouldn't you want to think the same about Nats?" Touya asked and Tenko closed his

mouth before nodding.

"Yeah I... guess so," he said and Touya let out a breath.

"Okay, then let's just work together," Touya said looking to Hawks.

"I do /not/ want to stay here," Hawks said with a grimace, "you're great and all but you're not... my Dabi."

Touya looked sideways at Tenko, "see what I mean?"

"N-not that I care for him I just-"

"Save it," Touya muttered, "you and my Keigo aren't that different."

"So?" Hawks snapped, his cheeks burning a warm red.

"So, Keigo's been in love with me since he first trusted me, try

telling me you're any different."

"I don't trust Dabi," Hawks scoffed and Touya smirked.

"You think my Keigo is still alive? That Dabi won't kill him?" he asked.

"I... think he'll know it's not /me/ and see no reason to hurt him."

"So you trust him?"

"I trust my

judgement," Hawks said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Right," Touya said, pressing his lips together.

"I do /not/ love Dabi, that's just... gross!" he exclaimed.

"Mhm," Touya hummed, turning the car on.

"I don't!" Hawks said.

"I'm not saying you do," Touya said

calmly, pulling out from the side of the street into the road.

"You're implying it!" Hawks accused, "I wouldn't be caught /dead/ being all snuggly and canoodly with /him/!"

Touya glanced through the rearview mirror at the red raging on Hawks's face. "Love looks different for

everyone."

"I-"

"Strategies," Tenko interrupted, "what are you thinking? I want Keigo back."

Touya nodded, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. "Okay, what's been the issue with all of our candidates this far?"

Hawks huffed in the back, "they didn't look right," he

said, "not even close to what I remember."

"right," Touya muttered, "but what if we don't need it to be the exact same person?"

"how do you mean?" Tenko asked.

"Well, think of this way. Tons of people have similar if not the same quirks right. I'm hardly the only one with a

fire quirk, which statistically means /someone/ has to have quirk similar enough to the one we need, to send you back and bring my Keigo to me."

Hawks hummed softly, pulling out the laptop in the back that sat on the bottom of the car. "Alright," he said softly, "have we met

with anyone whose quirk was like that?"

"Not yet," Touya said, "but we can narrow our search even-"

"Wait!" Tenko exclaimed, "we /have/! Hawks pull up the profile of the fourth person we visited."

Hawks scrolled to the name, pulling up the profile they created, "no, they

had an object displacement quirk," he said, "not human."

Tenko shook his head, "that's not who I care about, siblings. He had four siblings, right?"

Hawks's eyes widened and he ran a quick search, looking up the man's family. Tenko was right... the man had four other

siblings two of which were twins and... "oh my gods," he whispered, "parallel existence, characterized as moving oneself or others through parallel existences."

"Directions," Touya choked out, a sob bubbling up in his throat, "g-give me directions," he wiped at his eyes. He was

close, so close to getting his Keigo back.

"Got it," Hawks said, smiling, "they're only an hour from the city."
~
"This is so lame," Keigo sighed, falling back on Dabi's bed as the villain dressed.

"Trust me, the last thing I want to do it leave your snooping ass in my home

alone but I have a meeting about a certain's hero's unannounced disappearance and I hardly think /you/ would be quite welcome to show up," Dabi drawled, pulling on his coat.

"I'm not gonna snoop," Keigo muttered, "the skeleton in your closet is probably... well, a skeleton."

"Ha. Ha." Dabi muttered, "don't break anything."

"I'm not the villain."

"No but you are a pain in my ass," Dabi said, sighing and running a hand through his hair. "Just... don't do anything stupid."

"Not capable," Keigo said, lifting his eyebrows and smirking.

Dabi rolled his eyes, "whatever, I'll be back in a couple hours," he said before tucking a phone into his front pocket and tossing a second one to Keigo. "The only contact is me, /if/ and this is a big /if/ anything happens that you absolutely need me for, text me anything. A

number, a letter, a stupid little picture and I'll assume you need my help."

"So no casual conversation?" Keigo asked with a sly smile. Dabi didn't return it, his hand on the doorknob.

"I'm serious," he said, something dangerously close to concern in his eyes, "if something

is wrong-"

"I'll text you," Keigo said with a small smile, "I appreciate that you care."

"I don't care," Dabi scoffed, "my other self would be pissed if anything happened to you."

Keigo pressed his lips together, "mhm," he hummed softly, "bye," he said.

Dabi rolled his

eyes and walked out of the door.

Keigo tried to sleep the hours away but his curiosity was killing him. What was this world like?

It only took an hour for him to give in. He slipped on shoes and took one of Dabi's jackets, pulling it around him before stepping outside.
~
tbc

CW⚠️SXT
Keigo wasn't an idiot, he knew this world was far more dangerous than his own and that is anyone saw him they would expect things from him that he couldn't give.

He stayed behind buildings, passing through alleyways with the hood of Dabi's jacket over his head, staying

hidden as possible.

This world was different. Somehow dirtier, scarier, the fact that he of all people was a hero in this world meant it truly had gone to shit.

But what exactly happened? His world wasn't free of crime but with Mirko at the top spot, not many people dared to

commit anything more than a minor crime.

Keigo left his wings in Dabi's home, finding it better than trying to hide them in the jacket.

As scary as this world was... it was also amazing, brighter and almost as if there was more life. More than once he had passed groups of

people huddled together, or selling things on the street. He didn't see much of that in his world.

A few people were standing together close to where Keigo was about to pass so he moved to the other side of the pathway behind the buildings and walked by them without a

hitch.

They ignored him as he ignored them. Why was Dabi so worried? As long as he kept to himself, everything was fine. No one cared about someone who didn't want to be cared about.

Keigo smiled softly as he caught the sight of a little kid running to their parents, giggling

and jumping to be picked up. A hero, (he assumed by the costume) talking to a group of teenagers about his jobs.

Light footsteps... behind him?

Keigo barely had time to say anything before a large hand covered his mouth, and a rough one pushed against his chest, slamming him

into the back of a brick building. He would have coughed if he could breathe.

"What do we have here?" a male voice snarled, his voice rough like acid on his vocal cords.

Someone yanked down his hood, scraping the back of his head against the brick, and held a tight grip on

his chin, nails digging into his skin.

"Oh, we've hit gold haven't we?" a different male voice said and Keigo's eyes flickered to a man with a crooked set of yellowed (almost brown) teeth.

"Such a pretty specimen ain't he?" another one said, this one with dark hair and a

large curved mouth that might have been curled into a smile.

Keigo tried to pull away from the hands but they held tight, pressing him back, working on tearing the jacket off him until only his white t-shirt was covering his chest.

"What are we going to do with you, hm?" the

man with the hand over his mouth said. "Could catch a pretty price, don't you think, guys?"

The group erupted into laughter, clapping as if they had hit the jackpot.

Crooked teeth man ran his hands along Keigo's sides, patting him down before pulling out the phone in his

front pocket.

Tears welled in Keigo's eyes, but he just wasn't strong enough to fight out four different men. They spilled down his cheeks which only made the man covering his mouth laugh more.

"And a pretty crier too, oh, boss will love this!" he exclaimed. Keigo tried to

bite down on his hand but just as his teeth grazed the skin of his hand, tasting of dirt and blood, that same hand slapped across his face with enough force that he crashed to the ground.

Just as he was about to scream for help, maybe that hero he saw earlier would hear, the

man covered his mouth again, wrapping his other hand around his neck.

"Try that again and I ruin that pretty face of yours," he growled and Keigo cried softly, his chest aching. Not again. He couldn't do this again.

Not after he had gotten away.

"Yo Titan," the crooked

-teeth man called out and the guy covering his mouth craned his neck all the way around, facing the man.

"What?" he snapped.

"Pretty boy's got someone messaging him. /Back in thirty/ it says."

"Damn it," Titan muttered, "who is that, huh?" he demanded, turning his head back

around and leaning too close into Keigo's space, flicking out his tongue, catching it on Keigo's cheek. A quiet sob broke from his lips, muffled by the strong hand. "Partner?"

Keigo tried to shake his head, tears streaming like a river from his eyes.

"Roommate?" Keigo shook

his head again, and Titan let out a frustrated growl before letting go of Keigo's neck reaching into his pocket, pulling out a pistol. "I'm gonna free your mouth to tell us who that is but if you say anything else, I'll shoot you right here? Got me?"

Keigo shook his head. He'd

rather die than help them get what they wanted. Titan pressed the barrel of the pistol to Keigo's forehead but he didn't flinch.

Death was a better fate than anything they had planned for him.

"Oh? That not enough incentive?" Titan asked, a terrible gleam in his dark eyes.

"How about this? You don't tell me who that is, I'll let my guys see if everything else is as pretty as your face. Boss doesn't usually like tainted goods but, I'm sure he'll make an exception." Titan ran his tongue on Keigo's cheek again as another muffled sob broke from his

throat.

He nodded.

"Good boy," Titan said, slowly removing his hand, "tell us."

Keigo coughed, "I-I-" his voice trembled horribly, he wasn't sure he could scream even if he wanted to, "a-a fri-r-iend," he got out.

"Are you expected there?" Titan asked, covering Keigo's

mouth again. He nodded. Titan sighed, his breath stinking horribly, "alright, Clown, message this friend back, tell him that our pretty boy had gone out for a few hours, maybe overnight."

Crooked-teeth nodded, his fingers flying on the phone's keys, before sending the message.

Keigo's eyes still flooded with tears but a shred of hope fluttered in his chest. Dabi texted first but if he was home he woulnd't have answered it.

He was only supposed to answer if something was wrong. And he would have /never/ told Dabi he went out.

"Done," crooked-teeth

said with a horrible smile, "you've had a taste Titan, I want one," he said, licking his lips.

"No," Titian snapped, "I got his first, boss will let me have a free run but if you want him, you pay."

Keigo shivered, shaking his head. Could he depend on Dabi finding him? He

watched as crooked-teeth fished a wad of bills from a pocket, shoving it towards Titan.

"It'll cover the cost, I'll have him first, right here," he said, crossing the distance, pressing the bills to Titan's chest and grinning at Keigo. "We got such a good one, so... clean." he

inhaled and another sob broke from Keigo's throat. No, he couldn't count on Dabi.

"Fine," Titian grumbled, "but-" Keigo summoned any bit of strength he had and slammed his head forward, hitting Titan's.

A splitting pain erupted in his head but it loosened Titan's grip enough

that Keigo was able to rip himself from their grasp but it was fleeting before Crooked teeth grabbed the fabric of his shirt, swinging him to the side and into the brick wall.

Keigo crumpled to the ground, coughing for the air knocked from his lungs.

"Bitch!" Titan yelled,

"I was going to give you the courtesy of having Clown wait until we were back at base but since you want to get so aggressive... he can have you now," Titan said and crooked teeth (clown?) grinned, laughing like a maniac before reaching out to him.

Blue erupted around him, a

blistering heat and the horrible screams of being burned alive.

Keigo feared the fire would consume him until a soft but firm hand wrapped around his bicep, pulling him to his feet.

He pulled away, refusing to be taken to a second location when a familiar scent filled his

nostrils. Burning pine in a fireplace. The same as Touya... and Dabi.

Keigo sobbed softly as his voice spoke softly to him, "come on!" Dabi muttered close to his ear and Keigo grabbed onto his arm, holding like his life depended on it. It did.

"I'm sorry," he cried as Dabi

half-way pulled, half-speedwalked him away.

"Don't," Dabi nearly whispered, "just... let's go home," he sighed and Keigo nodded, biting down on his trembling lip.

Dabi stopped, pulling Keigo into a blocked off space from the street and any open alleys, he held onto Keigo's

arms with a gentle hold.

"Are you alright?" he asked and then shook his head, "I-I mean are you hurt?"

Keigo shook his head, "n-not really," he said and Dabi let out a breath of relief.

"Okay," Dabi sighed, "can you walk?" Keigo nodded, "jog?"

"Maybe not," he said.

"Ok, that's okay," Dabi muttered, "we'll walk."

Keigo looked up at him, his vision blurring, "Dab-i," he said, trying to clear the blur in his eyesight.

"I'm right here," Dabi soothed but Keigo grabbed his arm as his legs buckled. "Shit," he cursed, "okay, here," he said,

slinging one of Keigo's arms over his shoulder and slipping his own arm around Keigo's waist. "lean on me, I got to get you back."

Keigo nodded slowly, "I-i'm s-sorry," he whimpered but Dabi shook his head.

"You're alive," Dabi whispered, "that's all that matters."
~
tbc

"Explain again," Tenko said, "I'm lost."

The woman in front of him sighed, tightening her tied up blonde hair and then folding her hands on the table in front of them.

"This kind of thing isn't easy," she said, glancing over at her twin sister, eerily identical.

"but it's doable right?" Touya asked, hope bright like the stars in his yes.

"Well, yes," the other twin said, her name was Mia. "But here's the thing, we can't send just one thing, our quirk works in conjunction to each other to maintain balance. If I send something, Mai also

has to," Mia explained. Touya ran a hand over his face.

"So you can't just... bring him back?" he asked and Mai shook her head.

"Don't despair yet," Mia said with a small smile, "parallel or alternate universes are tricky /but/ their whole thing is maintaining balance. When

the hero came into this world, his counterpart went there to maintain balance. So, in theory, if we send /both/ of you to the hero's world, it'll spit the correct ones back here," she said, chewing on the bottom of her lip, glancing at Mai.

"But we've never done anything like

that before so we can't be sure it'll work or how quickly," Mai said with a careful nod, glancing at Touya and Hawks.

"But it could," Touya muttered, "and a chance is better than none, Hawks?"

Hawks glanced over at him, frowning, "it's risky," he said, "we have no idea what

could happen."

"Does it matter? We /have/ to try! Don't you want to get back to your Touya?" Touya asked and Keigo's eyes flared, that same gentle red on his cheeks.

"I... yeah," he breathed, "okay, alright, let's do this."

Mai nodded, "it might not be immediate, sometimes

our objects take several hours. Typically larger things take more time so... it could be up to a few days."

"You two are our best hope," Touya said, "we'll do it."

"Great," Mia said, smiling holding out her hands as Mai did the same.

"Each of you take one of our hands," Mai

said. Touya did along with Hawks and the two women closed their eyes. Electricity sparked through Touya's body, not painful exactly, like his entire body had fallen asleep and then it was gone.

"It's done," Mia said, "I wish you the best," she said.

Touya looked over at Hawks

"thank you," he said, meeting Hawks's eyes, "let's go?" he asked.

Hawks nodded, "thanks," he said back to the women, "seriously," he reiterated before walking out with Touya and Tenko.

As soon as the door closed behind him, Hawks looked up at Touya, "you think it'll work?"

"It had to."
~
Keigo curled into Dabi's bed, inhaling the scent of the sheets and the new clothes around him. As soon as they'd gotten back and Dabi made sure he wasn't gonna die, he rushed to the shower, scrubbing off every touch of those dirty hands on his body.

Dabi gave

him a set of clean clothes, something untouched by anyone but him. The villain worked at the stove, tending to the teak kettle, taking it off the heat right before it screamed.

Water sloshed against a ceramic mug and the scent of cinnamon and oranges filled the room as he

poured the water over the tea bag. Bread popped up from the toaster and Touya let the tea bag steep while he prepared the food.

When it was done, he plated it and held the mug by it's handle before making his way over to Keigo. "Sit up," he said gently. Keigo opened his

eyes and blinked at him before sitting up.

"What-"

"Just take it," Dabi said before Keigo could question anything. "talk if you want but you need to eat something."

"What is it?" Keigo asked, taking the mug from Dabi, the warmth spreading up his hand and arm.

"Tea," he

softly, "and toast with sugar and...cinnamon."

Keigo's lips curled up slightly, "I... haven't had cinnamon sugar toast since foster homes, it was-"

"Easy to make and tasted good?" Dabi asked, Keigo nodded slowly.

"Yeah," he breathed, "they always had loads of cheap bread

and no one missed a tiny bit of cinnamon, wouldn't even notice the sugar."

Dabi nodded, "when I was on the streets, bread was so often thrown away at the end of the day in bakeries. Everything else was easy to pocket from grocery stores. Didn't go bad either. Well maybe the

bread could get moldy after a week but-"

"It never lasted that long anyway?" Keigo asked and Dabi smiled, lips closed, nodding. "I'm... sorry I lost your jacket," he said softly.

Dabi shook his head, "was my least favorite anyway," he said, "Keigo, are you sure you're okay? I

mean, they were going to-"

"I know," Keigo said, taking a sip from the hot tea, the burned down his throat but he didn't flinch. "I would have fought... even if it did nothing. Fighting is easier than giving in."

"Even if I didn't get that text I- well I would have looked for

you," Dabi said, watching as Keigo's hands curled around the mug, tightening as if it was the only thing keeping him safe.

"I know," Keigo said, "to tell me off no doubt. I mean-" his eyes filled with tears, "that's what I get for leaving, right? Might as well be my fault."

Dabi's eyes flared, "no!" he exclaimed, moving the plate to a side table and shifting closer to Keigo, "don't think that for even a second. /None/ of that was your fault."

"I just have that kind of face, though," his breath caught in his chest, and the tears in his eyes fell

down his cheeks, "that's um, what my dad always said. If I didn't look so... /pretty/ no one would care to even look. They might as well have the right to touch when I look so good."

"That's the most bullshit thing I've ever heard," Dabi nearly growled, "/nothing/ gives anyone

the right to do anything to you unless you let them. Leaving the house isn't an invitation for anything."

Keigo blinked through his tears, up at Dabi, "you're not mad?"

"Oh, I'm furious," he said, gritting his teeth, "but not at you." He let out a breath, "did you happen to

hear their names?"

"Uh... yeah, I think um, Titian? A-and maybe c-clown?" he shivered, imaging those crooked, brown teeth, gleaming at him like he was a meal.

Dabi's eyes flashed bright blue, fire beneath them, "shit ass code names, I know who that was."

"You do?"

"Not like, personally," he clarified, "i kill shitty ass heroes not..." he shook his head, "anyway, it doesn't matter, you're here, you're safe," Dabi said, letting out a sigh of relief, "are you going to be able to sleep tonight?" he asked.

Keigo shrugged, "maybe," he said,

"definitely not alone but, Im safe with you, I know that."

Dabi nodded, "course you are," he said, meeting Keigo's bright eyes, "I couldn't hurt you."

"But you could hurt Hawks?" Keigo asked. Dabi looked down at his lap.

"I have," he said, "I don't feel good about it."

"What you'd do?" Keigo asked.

"You don't want to know."

"I do," Keigo said, "I won't think differently of you."

Dabi choked out a laugh, "yeah right, just-"

"Tell me," Keigo said, "I'll understand."

"You'd understand if I burnt off your wings?" Dabi asked and Keigo's

eyes flared.

"W-why?"

"He betrayed me," Dabi said, "I thought he was one of us, it was my fault for trusting him I just... I wanted it to be true."

"Because you loved him?" Keigo asked and Dabi startled.

"no, no! I just, I dunno, wanted him to be on our side. By... my

side."

"You wanted to face the world together? A united front?" Keigo asked and Dabi sighed.

"I guess so," he said, "but then he wasn't who I needed him to be and I just, I was so angry, I was so... /hurt/, and it was like I was a little kid again, not enough for my father,

not enough for him. I thought if I shed him like I did my name then I wouldn't care but... when I was supposed to kill him, I couldn't. So, I hurt him in the only way I thought could possibly measure up to how he hurt me." Dabi played with his hands in his lap, chewing on his

bottom lip.

"Why don't you talk to him?" Keigo asked, sipping from the tea again, slightly less hot but still warm enough.

"Yeah right," Dabi grumbled, "we're at each other's throats every time we see each other."

"Dabi," Keigo said, setting the tea aside and taking one of

his hands in his own.

"What?" he snapped.

Keigo shook his head, "you hide behind anger, because you know that pain will /always/ lose when you let anger win. I don't know much about Hawks, but if he's anything like me then he fights every second of his life for peace but

unlike me, he hasn't found any ground of stability. Nothing to hold on to."

"So what the hell am I supposed to do?" Dabi asked, his voice breaking.

Keigo smiled at him softly, "hold out your hand."
~
tbc

"So," Touya said, looking over at Hawks as the hero flipped through a book not really reading anything at all.

"So, what?" Hawks asked.

"What do we do now?"

"Wait?" Hawks said, rolling his eyes, "it's only been a day."

"yeah but i mean like, what do we do when we get

there?" Touya asked. Hawks closed the book, setting it aside on the arm rest of the couch they were sitting on.

"Well," Hawks said, "find Dabi and your Keigo."

"As if its going to be that easy," Touya sighed, "unless you just so happened to know where Dabi lives." he said

and glanced at Hawks who scratched the back of his head. "you /do/!"

"Only because he's like, my enemy or whatever."

"Or whatever," Touya laughed, "when are you going to admit how you feel?" he asked and Hawks sent him a glare.

"How about never because there is nothing to

admit," Hawks said, running a hand through his hair, leaning back against the couch, "besides, Dabi hates my guts."

"or he wants to rearrange them," Touya muttered.

"What?"

"nothing, dont worry about it," Touya said, "but seriously, you two have a /lot/ of shit to work out

together."

Hawks scoffed, "As if, he'll roast me before I can say a single thing," he said, "i feel bad for your husband, Dabi's probably driving him crazy."

Touya narrowed his gaze, "I'm not so sure about that," he said.

"Why?"

"Keigo... has a way with people, it's like

you can't help /but/ like him. He's incredible to love, easy to be around. It's like he'll light up every room he enters."

"That sounds nothing like me," Hawks huffed, "I was raised by awful people."

"That doesn't make you awful by association."

Hawks's eyes flared, "you...

mean that? You don't think I'm awful?"

Touya shook his head, "you're Keigo," he said softly, "different sure but, Keigo couldn't possibly be awful."

"And if I told you I've killed someone?" he asked.

Touya leveled his gaze, "do you think I'm awful?"

"Not even close,"

Hawks excalimed.

"And if I told you that /I've/ killed someone?" he asked and Hawks's eyes flared again.

"You have?"

Touya nodded, "Keigo and I... there was this guy, messing with my little brother, the youngest, Shoto. He's a quiet kid, tentative in everything he does but

he's a bit too innocent and naïve for his own good. He didn't know-" Touya took in a slow breath before letting it out, "he didn't know he was being taken advantage of. And with Keigo's background, the horrible shit he's been through you can imagine how angry he was. I mean, I

was too obviously, how could I not? Some creep twice his age, messing with my little brother," he shook his head, "when we found out, I was with Keigo and Tenko. Natsuo told me, Fuyumi was the one who found out, my other siblings."

Touya clenched his hands into fists, "Tenko

had connections, it was five against one, it's amazing how no one questions one man's disappearance when there isn't any evidence."

Hawks blinked at him, "you killed for a good reason then."

"Anyone in their right mind, kills /only/ for a good reason," Touya said,

"not all life is precious, as much as everyone wants it to be. Why did you kill?"

"I... killed a friend, to turn the tides of war," Hawks said quietly, "but in doing it I betrayed Dabi, I showed him what I cared about more."

"War or love; that's always the question isn't

it?" Touya asked, "and he retaliated?"

"Naturally," Hawks sighed, "I deserved it, but he can't forgive me and I can't ask him to."

"The don't," Touya said, "you both have done things you probably regret-"

"I don't regret killing that person, it had to happen," Hawks said.

"I didn't mean that, I mean betraying him. If there had been a way to do it without betraying him, would you?" Touya asked.

Hawks nodded, "y-yeah, he's not so bad. A-a villain for the right reasons, I think."

Touya pressed his lips together in a smile, "so, you both have

regret, we're human, you do not have to forgive to move on and move past."

"What the hell am I supposed to do? It's not like I can just tell him that I love him," Hawks said before gasping softly, "I... love him?"

"I could have told you that," Touya said, smiling.

"How'd you know?"

"You talk about him, all the time and when you do your pupils dilate, they get brighter and you do /anything/ to make it seem like you're indifferent when you couldn't be farther from caring."

"It's creepy that you know that much," Hawks muttered.

"Gathering information and speculating is my job. Tying everything together to form conclusions is easy."

"Creepy."

"Maybe, but you realize your feelings now, dont' you?" Touya asked.

"And what good does it do? I still can't talk to him, he won't listen to me."

"If your Dabi is anything like me, then he's stubborn but you won't find someone with more passion and dedication. When he sets his mind to something, he will accomplish it but at the same time, all that passion is going to overflow and with no one there to receive it

he'll burn out."

"So what do I do?" Hawks asked.

Touya smiled, "receive it."
~
tbc