Chapter Text
1:
In fairness when Kaso decided to become a vigilante it had become his silent way of sending his father a fuck you. He wouldn't know his son hadn't died like he wanted and became one of the most feared names in the underground. It wasn't his motivation at the start of it all but if anyone asked now days that was his motive.
"Hey why are you a vigilante?"
"It's like holding a middle finger up to my father and screaming at him fuck you. I'm not actually doing it but I still get the satisfaction"
He was strangely thankful he has never had to have that conversation outside of other vigilantes. He wasn't really thankful he ever had to have that conversation.
Kaso had not originally become a vigilante to get his own back. He started because he was a starving teenager who needed food and an energy kick. Obviously the best way to do that was to take down thugs and steal their money by smashing their skull in with a pipe.
Now however he wasn't so much if a shadow who took down thise who thought they had a chance to be big in the underground. He had instead stepped into the limelight. He would take down mafia bosses if he ran into them. He didn't mean to up his game. He just found some set of morals.
Two years of taking down thieves and killers he had a patrol (or ten. You could never be to safe) and a mark. No one knew if it was his for sure sure but rumour had it if you ever saw a man or child with a burn on their necks you had ran into Kaso's handiwork.
That wasn't the only rumour running around. There were others that floated in the fourms such as how he was part of a cult (False) how he had kids (Debatable) If he had kids he had to be a normal member of society (you clearly hadn't seen him then) or how he was part of the arrival on Ketsuiki, Kuse and Kioku (... You're leaving out Ko bigots).
Most people thought they had he figured out. That if he popped up in a street they would recognise him and be capable of saying "I got his autograph!" The amount of times he heard people brag about that as he walked by in all his grace.
His quirk was common and hard to keep under wraps from the public eye. The blue flames that illuminated the darkness of the night were relatively easy to spot. Kaso made no attempt at hiding the fact he used it or what it was. There was no point after all. He knew how to use
He'd be kidding if he said he didn't find any humour in it because he joked about it all the time while beating them up. When life gave you lemons pour them in over people’s eyes after all.
oOo
He went out Monday the 11th of March
A figure in black and white placed down a pipe to lean on a wall. Dabi looked down at the two battered men on the floor before he blinked. He bent down to reach the floor placing his index and middle finger on their wrists to check for a pulse. His sighed in relief when he felt a beat at a slower speed than normal but the men were in no risk of death.
He rolled over their unconscious bodies and let a small flame flicker in his hand and lowered it down. His mind was imagining the tip of the flames trailing their necks. The burns would feel like tripping over recently cooked sausages but if left unattended would scar. He shut the imagery down with water pouring down on the fire and steam rose in the air. Dabi grinned taking out the wallet and collecting any cheques and notes as well as the phone.
Rrrrrrrrrring rrrrrrrrrrrrring
“Hello?” the voice called from the other line, a police officer,
“Hello, officer Kaso reporting in, I am assuming you have already tracked down my IP address and will be on the way, the two were drug dealers, I didn’t check the substance, not in the mood to get high.” He hung up quickly afterwards and dropped the phone onto the ground stopping the metal being used to track him.
He picked up the stick and begun to trek down the street looking down the roads for any other type of shady business going on. The vigilante peered down the one he knew was a hotspot and was surprised to find nobody down there wreaking havoc that he had to fix. He was relived truthfully.
It was an easy night and an easy night meant he could bunk off and enjoy his alone time. Most of his ‘alone time’ was more like not being annoyed by crime or kids being needy. He took the short-cut down to the beach keeping an ear out for any mishaps. The silence was accepted as he came into sight of the beach and a man with bright red wings.
“Hawks.” Dabi stated sliding down the pillar onto one of the few spots you could still see the shore from and the sand was still around instead of being knee deep in plastic water bottles. The red winged man turned to face him and smiled,
“You turned up this time I see.” He stated chuckling as he patted the spot beside him which Dabi fell into with practised ease, the feathers curled around him and offered him a warmth that his flames couldn’t. He fell back into them and sighed in relief.
“How’s it going?” He asked turning to look at his companion on these starry nights, Dabi shrugged, he leaned into the leather jacket the bird had on.
“Will this be the day you crack open and spill your darkest secrets to me Dabi?” Hawks asked grinning. He held up a beer bottle. Dabi’s eyes glinted with the same mischievous shine they had every meet-up. An agreement that whoever got the most wasted within three shots had to spill their darkest secrets for the other to know. It never worked out, Dabi always woke up in a warehouse with no memory of the night before.
“You’re on Birdie.” He grinned picking up a shot glass only to pour it on the floor. He watched the hero carefully. His mouth had dropped and he watched it trickle down onto the floor, the liquid trickled down the sand.
“You have to be kidding me! That stuff was expensive!” The bird screamed his hands flying in the air much to Dabi’s amusement. He chuckled to himself before answering,
“I saw the price tag, you can’t lie to me Hawks, why don’t we find out whose more toxicated while sober.”
The bird looked at him innocently before digging in his bag, he pulled out several instruments before he arrived at the pump. Why he had it neither of them knew but the bird shoved one of them in his mouth and went cross eyed in order to try read the measurements. The lines would be blurred for him but the face would have been worth it.
Dabi took a picture before going over and reading the number.
“You can drive for once, that’s impressive.”
The bird slapped his hand, away from him and shoved the monitor in Dabi’s mouth, he stood still for a moment as if not believing his eyes for the first time in years.
“You’re sober!”
Surprises still happened it seemed.
Dabi plucked the recording device out of his mouth and spat on the floor as if he had a horrid feeling burning up his tastebuds.
“Ew,” he stated leaving no room for what had actually brought the action on.
“Dude, we’re on the nicest part of Japan and you spat on it, that’s not very nice is it?”
“Is it very nice to spread your disease called flu, yes Hawks I know you were sick you sneezed over your cheesecake at home and no I am not a stalker the paparazzi though? If you know where to look they have plenty of information on anyone who shows their face on a magazine.”
The number three hero sighed in relief that his identity was still hidden to some extent because either Dabi was horrible at connecting the dots or he didn’t care at all. Hawks stood by the connecting the dots theory seeing as the vogue front cover must have had more pictures of him.
He didn’t think about everything else you could find if you dug through all the copies, he knew they had sold him out at least once.
“You seem deep in thought. Mind on sharing?” Dabi stated noticing how he slumped slightly when he seemed to know nothing else about his civilian life other than the fact he appeared on the front of a magazine. Then he just went silent as if trying to think on how that stroke of luck happened. Dabi saw it often enough while patrolling with Kuse and coming against some of the thickest men they had ever met who didn’t realize metal was heat conductive or that a guy with a pole in a fighting stance was not worth provoking. He also saw it when Izuku passed someone in the streets or when a hero debuted.
“I’m just thinking.” Hawks retaliated trying to hide sharing his secrets, they only did that when they were dead ass drunk.
“I know that, what were you thinking about.”
Hawks pouted before he picked up his bag and pretended to be leaving. Or at least Dabi thought he was joking. It turned out the bird wasn’t at all.
Up“If we aren’t getting drunk then I’ll be on my way.” Hawks gave his signature smile before he opened the red wings of his, the beautiful red wings that blurred in with the sunset. Dabi reached his hand out for him, desperate to catch a fistful of feathers to prevent him from leaving except it backfired. He missed as the wind knocked him off of his feet and onto the sand. The grain mixed in with his mouth leaving the aftertaste of salt in his mouth.
Yeah, he much preferred the plastic straw or the cheap whiskey.
Dabi picked himself up and reached into the trench coat pocket and pulled out his phone. He smashed the power button and almost died with the fact his brightness was a) on full blast and the fact he still had an hour left of his patrol. He silently thanked the heavens that he kept the pipe around.
He picked it up increasing his body temperature to heat the metal up. Once he was fairly certain it could pack a punch he hopped past the rubbish on the beach to reach the pier. He swung his leg up grabbing the bar (that stopped people falling) and pulled himself across the gravel.
He thanked the black market for all they did because any normal trousers would have ripped into pieces the second be started to skid. Dabi pulled himself into his two legs and dusted his knees off before he started his jog. He estimated he was closer to the warehouse than he wanted to be meaning he actually had to do stuff. He gripped the pipe harder before removing one hand to climb up the ladders to the rooftops.
He practised and it was more effective to getting a view of the landscape around him. He had no source of light but you always got something from living in a dingy warehouse. Good night vision was one of the perks it seemed. Dabi wouldn't complain about that. He could see the shadowy figures emerge down the alleyway. The same one a civilian was walking down armed with a bag of carrots and other vegetables.
He kept his eye on them hoping the others would let the bunny man go in peace. Life was never that simple however, for the men decided that he must have had money on him as one of them took the shopping and looked through it to see if there was anything of value in it.
It turned out in modern society of quirks you could not even do your weekly shop as a vegan without having someone come for you. Kaso sighed swinging the pipe around and searching for a good place to hide. He could just let them get away and pull the ‘I was too late’ to Toga card but he couldn’t have that happen. A hero wasn’t coming they never came so he guessed it was up for him to save the day, once again.
A bag of rotten fruit (a food bin) was laying below him, if he rolled he would have no damage caused and wouldn’t be on fighting with a sprained ankle for once. He pulled the pipe out and chuckled to himself alerting every one of his appearance.
“Well well well… you trying to earn a quick buck guys for what gum? Shame I heard prison has plenty of it on the walls… wait… I’m sending your sorry asses over there anyways.”
One of them dived forward. Dabi slid out the way because really, there wasn’t even an effort for him to tackle him down just heading straight at him like a buckaroo. Even Toga didn’t do that? Where they that bad at fighting? It was impressive.
Unsurprisingly, they both ran into the pipe he had outstretched from his arm. One of them conked out on the spot, the heading hitting the floor like a doll while the other was disorientated enough that getting them in the handcuffs was more like a chore.
Bunny man had ran off, Dabi didn’t blame him, all he wanted do was lie in the makeshift bed and go to sleep for the rest of his pitiful life. Except if he never woke up dying then and there was not that bad an option. You don’t need to tell him he needs therapy. He knows he does but that never meant he would get it.
Being an angsty teenager was his part time job, it payed well leave him be.
He left the pipe where it was originally and hurried down to the warehouse. He pushed the door open awaiting the terror waiting inside you would only get from living with a bunch of homeless adrenaline filled kids from elementary to high school freshman age.
“Nii-chan! You’re home!” Was the first thing he heard and for fucks sake who let Eri stay up this late. He looked around to find the gremlin riding on Hitoshi’s back while had no uno cards left on his art of the pile suggesting he won.
Izuku and Himiko were being no help seeing as they failed to notice him storming through the door preparing to curse up a storm. They were fully into the match they were in, pick up fours and reverse cards flying everywhere. Flying across the floor meaning they would take years to pick up.
He tapped Eri and pointed to the two frying pans that were unusable form the vast amount of grease and dust which gathered there over the years.
“Go bang them together, it’s time we slept.”
He watched with a keen eye as Eri ran off to grab the pans and smashed the surfaces together. Himiko actually jumped out her skin becoming grey sludge a second before she stopped herself, becoming herself in a manner of seconds.
“What is it this time!” she yelled loud enough that if they had neighbours they would be at the doors screaming up a door. Thank the heathens they didn’t have neighbours.
Yes Dabi needed a cheap beer and sleep. If only he was getting it sooner than later.
oOo
Unknown to him, his life was still grey. Others would want it to be pristine shiny and white like his mother’s ice and his sisters hair while others would lead him to living a life as balck as his hair and the ash from his father’s flames. His life was still grey and he still had a choice. Society would push him but for now, he wouldn’t budge. For now he stayed grey, perfectly imperfect. In equilibrium to the two sides staying loyal only to those as neutral as he.
He would stay grey for a long time