Chapter Text
In hindsight, this fight should have been over with. They could've been home, resting... But alas, in a world of quirks, Touya shouldn't have expected things to be easy.
...
One moment, he and Keigo were walking back to their apartment. Next thing he knew, they were being mugged. It was stupid, trying to mug a pair of trained vigilantes. Of course the four thieves didn't know that.
"You already know what to do if you don't wanna get hurt!" yelled a man with an elephant quirk mutation, posing to strike.
To anyone else, it would have been intimidating. Touya and Keigo were rather short and the man towered over them. Not only that, there were two other goons next to him, wielding weapons.
"I would say the same to you too, Dumbo." Touya gave the man an innocent smile.
In lieu of a response, the elephant growled and charged forward, attempting to punch Touya.
Touya ducked and used his small stature to maneuver himself on top of the man's shoulders. With that, he put his hand on the nape of the man's neck and heated up his palm.
"I told you, didn,t I?" The fire wielder whispered ominously.
"Tch." The elephant grabbed onto Touya's arm with the intent to throw him off of him but that just provoked the vigilante into using his fire.
The man screamed in pain, his skin near the state of blistering. It wasn't even the worse thing Touya could do. He always avoided using his fire, not wanting to severely injure or kill anyone. The elephant was probably strong enough to take the intimidating heat. Hopefully.
While Touya was occupied with the behemoth, Keigo was busy dealing with the other two (seemingly quirkless) goons. The first one swung at him with a long mental pipe which Keigo just mutilated with sharp feathers. The other attempted to help his comrade by swinging at Keigo, aiming for the head. The avian just ducked out of the way, fanned out one wing and pinned them both to the wall.
The elephant man was still struggling, wriggling about in and attempt to throw the smaller man off.
"Alright, fuck this." He gritted out, before slamming his back against the alley wall, hurting himself but effectively stunning Touya.
Keigo reacted immediately by sending feathers out to take Touya out of the elephant's range. As if he just remembered that there were two of them, the man charged and attempted to slam into Keigo. Keigo dodged with his speed and floated over the man. He used some feathers to pin the man down by his clothes to the concrete floor, not really wanting to skewer someone.
"Touya, are you okay?" He asked immediately, somehow satisfied that the men were restrained.
He found Touya unconscious where he settled him with his feathers.
"Wait... weren't there four of them?" He asked himself.
He was about to look around when this shorter man ran from behind a corner and pushed him.
Everything went dark afterwards.
...
"Arrogant brats." The elephant man muttered, ripping up the irritating feathers that pinned him in the first place.
"It's a good thing there's four of us then." The midget responded, helping the other two goons get rid of the feathers.
"Wanna try out your quirk on these two, newbie?" The elephant called out from where he was taking off the guitar case from Touya and checking if it had anything of value. Nothing. Maybe they should sell the guitar...
"I dunno, man, isn't that a bit too far?" The lackey fumbled with his black gloves and hunched over himself, clearly nervous.
"It's just a harmless prank!" His friend reassured him with a pat on the back.
"...okay." Resigned, he took off his gloves and clapped once. The sound echoed through the alley as a white portal opened up from where he stood.
"This should be fun." The elephant man grinned maliciously, dragging both unconscious vigilantes near the portal.
"The feathered freak had a med kit with him and some cash." He shared nonchalantly. "This one however," He lifted up Touya by the scruff of his jacket. "- has nothing to offer but that stupid guitar."
"Did you check their pockets..?" The newbie chimed in nervously, hoping that they would be spared somehow.
"Got nothing. Buncha street rats." The leader spat out.
With that, he threw Touya then Keigo into the portal like sacks of flour.
He threw the guitar not long after, with a few objections from the newbie and the midget.
...
Here yet again another confrontation between the League of Villains and some of the heroes. (Namely: Eraserhead, Present Mic, Midnight Hawks, Ectoplasm, Vlad King). You'd think they'd be tired of all this. This was like the third time this month!
"Don't you have anything better to do?!" Hawks yelled, frustrated of having been called over to deal with the League, when he was just with them the night before. He would rather be faced down on his bed, comatosed , than deal with this, thank you.
"No, not really!" Toga chimed right back, enjoying Hawks's expression, flickering between amusement and annoyance. The other pros didn't notice that though.
"This will end once you're all dead!" Shigaraki cackled with glee, playing his part as the terrifying main villain. Hopefully Sensei was proud.
"This ends when you're all in jail!" Eraserhead growled back before charging forward, capture weapon ready.
Before anyone could touch anyone though, a portal opened up next to the clearing, catching everyone off guard.
"Kurogiri?" Spinner wondered aloud.
"His portal isn't white, dumbass." Dabi quipped, looking every bit done with the whole situation. Just like Hawks, he wanted nothing to do with this battle. This was all Handjob's idea of a substitute hobby. Fucking pathetic.
"Looks interesting! How ominous!" Twice chimed in.
Before anyone could react or walk over to the portal (Toga and Present Mic), two forms were sent out of the portal. They hit the ground with a thud and from what they could tell, the individuals were unconscious.
Shaking out of their initial shock, they realized that the other person had wings similar to Hawks's, albeit brown.
The other person, the ravenette, started stirring, about to wake up. Everyone held their breaths then readied themselves.
"..what.." the man muttered groggily. Something went flying out of the portal once more and hit the boy directly on the head, promptly knocking him unconscious once more.
Almost everyone winced at the impact when they realized that the object was a guitar case. Oh, and the portal closed up soon after.
...
"What the fuck?" Eraserhead muttered, breaking the heavy silence. Everyone felt that.
Toga, (being the sweetheart that she was) bounced over to the poor ravenette and moved to lift him up.
"Don't touch him!" Vlad King and Eraserhead suddenly protested, still trying to process things.
"Hmpf! I don't see any of you guys helping!" She sassed back, prompting Twice to follow her lead.
Snapping out of his shock, Hawks walked over to the other avian and moved to flip him over from when he landed head first. Ouch.
"... what the hell..?"
There was no mistaking it, the other avian was him. With brown hair and wings.
"Hawks? What's wrong?" Midnight asked cautiously.
"What..." Eraserhead said out loud after inching closer to the two of them.
"Oh my..." Midnight put a hand to her mouth, astonished.
"Well, this is certainly interesting." Shigaraki piped up with glee, certainly excited at the prospect of an adventure, or a mystery, or both.
"Dabi!" Toga piped up from where she was kneeling next to the other unconscious man.
"This guy smells exactly like you!"
That really threw everyone off guard even more. Creepy.
"Oi, fuck off, creep." Dabi bit back, stalking towards them, hands in his pockets.
His face morphed into shock (which scared some of them even more, since when was Dabi capable of expressing more than two emotions?).
The guy did look like him, if Dabi was actually physically and mentally stable.
He was crossed between being jealous and astonished and he didn't know what to say except, "What the fuck."
...
Everything hurt like a bitch.
His head was pounding, his back and arms were aching from the fight, and his ears won't stop ringing. Was he hallucinating? It was too loud.
After Cardinal set him down, some creepy dwarf came out of nowhere then pushed him. He didn't know what happened afterwards.
'Where's Keigo?!'
Ignoring the light destroying his eyes, Touya opened them and moved to sit up. He needed to check on Keigo first.
"Careful! You might have a concussion, (though I don't know what that is.)" Someone chastised next to him.
When his eyes finally adjusted to the sunlight, (Wait, wasn't it night time earlier?!) he immediately searched around for Keigo.
"Cardinal?!" He asked, frantic. At least he remembered not to use his real name.
He relaxed slightly at the sight of his boyfriend unconscious. He approached him and roamed his hands on his face and shoulders, checking for injuries.
Everyone watched as the Dabi-look-alike hovered over the Hawks-look-alike, checking his companion over with concern. The young man then proceeded to lay the other's head on his crossed legs, it looked intimate to say the least.
Everyone felt awkward, not knowing what to say.
Especially Dabi and Hawks themselves.
Satisfied that Keigo was safe and secure with him, Touya finally looked up to see the person who chastised him earlier. A blonde high school girl that was staring at him with slight concern and wonder.
She then beamed, giving him a wave.
"Hi! I'm Himiko! What's your name?"
That peppy attitude brought Touya some sense of comfort since he was not only in unfamiliar territory, but he was in this situation with Keigo, who he didn't want to be in trouble to begin with.
"Uh... Yukitomo Koruhi." He greeted awkwardly, still not used to hearing his fake name out loud. He barely used it, going by "Touya" to those who knew him. He barely interacted with strangers to even warrant the use of a name.
The weird patchwork man standing a few feet away stared at him, judging him. It took a few more seconds for Touya to realize that the dark, brooding patchwork guy was him.
"Holy shit." He breathed out, unintentionally catching everyone's attention.
"Koruhi-kun!" Himiko squealed, thankfully taking the attention off of him. She turned towards the patchwork Touya. "That's your real name, Dabi-kun??"
He didn't seem to object.
Everyone except Hawks made a mental note of that information.
'Dabi' made a face and looked at Touya, letting him know that fake name was weird. He stared right back, letting the other know that "Dabi" was weirder.
Not that anyone caught on to that.
"Are the two of you okay? They're fine!" A man in a grey jumpsuit piped up and startled him.
"Y- yeah. We're fine. Just tired..." He trailed off, eyes wandering towards the other people in the clear. It was overwhelming to say the least. There was a lot of them.
'Is that Keigo?'
"Do you need medical attention?"
Touya snapped his attention towards Eraserhead. Aizawa. That lifted some weight off his shoulders. Someone else familiar, but not so familiar.
"Nah, we're good. Thanks." He smiled awkwardly, still shaken, and everyone could see that.
Finally taking some time to read the atmosphere, Touya realized that the two factions were in the middle of a feud. It didn't take a genius to figure out that if there were heroes, there were probably villains.
The nice blonde had knives with her, the patchwork Touya definitely dressed like it, there was a reptilian holding a sword(s)?, a trenchcoat-wearing masked man, then there's the creepy person wearing disembodied hands-
"Uh..." He fumbled with his words, immediately standing up, carrying Keigo in a bridal carry. He looked for the guitar case and it was rather far from his reach. He could deal with that later. He needed to leave now.
"D-Don't worry about us! Carry on with what you're doing. Nothing to see here! We'll be out of your way. K, bye. Thanks!" He babbled on, with every sentence, he took a few steps back.
Everyone watched as he almost tripped on a branch, trying to get out of there as soon as possible.
He didn't doubt that he and Keigo were strong enough but as of that moment, they had a lot against their favor. 1) They didn't know where they were. 2) They literally have just been mugged. 3) Cardinal was unconscious. 4) It has always been a rule to try and avoid confrontation.
Needless to say, Touya was having a pretty bad day.
...
As the odd pair disappeared beyond the clearing, everyone just stared at one another, willing the other faction to discuss what the fuck just happened.
"So..." Spinner started awkwardly, fiddling with his scarf. "Are we gonna fight or what?"
"Fuck that, I wanna know where they're going!" Shigaraki exclaimed excitedly, pointing towards the pair's trail, ever the manchild looking for entertainment.
"NO. You will leave them alone." Eraserhead ordered sternly. "It's none of our business."
He nodded towards the other pros.
With that, Midnight acted, attempting to gas the League and knock them out. Dabi was the first to react and attempted to set Midnight on fire, only to be stopped by Eraserhead. The gas was stopped by Toga, wearing her gas mask, ran over and slashed at her thighs and she cried out in pain. Hawks, (knowing that Midnight couldn't really hurt Toga since she was not equipped to do so), used his feathers to snag Toga by her uniform and throw her back. No one noticed but she knew Hawks almost gently set her down.
Getting frustrated by the whole morning ordeal, Dabi decided to take it out on the trees by setting the entire clearing on fire.
"You just trapped us here!" Spinner yelled, warding off Vlad King with his sword. Dabi just sneered in response.
The fire was rather quick to engulf the surrounding trees. At this point, some of them realized that the fire might even reach the foreign pair from earlier.
"Ectoplasm!" Eraserhead called out to where the other hero was having his clones dusted by Shigaraki. "Evacuate the two kids from earlier!"
"I'm 24, you fuck!" Dabi yelled, only to shut up
when Toga and Twice started snickering.
Ectoplasm nodded and dashed in the direction "Yukitomo" went.
Growing impatient at not having anything fun to do but bother the heroes, Shigaraki called out for Kurogiri. But not before dusting a few of Hawks's feather projectiles as an act of pettiness, and Hawks just lets him, still in a daze.
The League retreated. Toga giving one last worried glance towards the trees and Dabi sparing one look at the discarded guitar case.
....
"You gotta be kidding me." Touya groaned upon seeing the blue fire close by, engulfing anything in its way.
'What did I do to deserve this?' It was stupid, even his self didn't spare him!
Fearing for Keigo's safety, he started running. It was still unsafe, seeing as he just woke up from blunt force trauma but it was still safer than walking slowly in the midst of a fucking forest fire.
"Yukitomo-san, let me help you!" Another trenchcoat-wearing , masked man appeared. Seriously, why?
Snapping out of it, he handed Keigo over to the hero. He didn't trust all heroes but Keigo's safety mattered more at the moment. The man could certainly carry him to safety faster than Touya's scrawny arms could.
Touya made an indignant noise when another copy of the man suddenly carried him as well. It was embarassing but he certainly wasn't gonna complain.
...
"There we go."
Ectoplasm(as he later found out) set them down on the pavement. Cardinal was finally awake, which was a relief. But he did freak out upon waking up to some stranger carrying him bridal-style in the middle of a forest. The explanation that followed afterwards was surely something...
"Thanks..." "Thank you..." Touya and Keigo stated respectively, awkward and still unsure of what to make of their situation.
"Just making sure you're safe." Ectoplasm answered, getting rid of his copy.
...
"The League escaped again." Eraserhead muttered upon reaching them, the low drawl almost unheard over the blare of the sirens.
"We'll be going back to UA, kiddos!" Present Mic announced cheerfully, in an attempt to lighten up their mood. Hard to do with everyone else looking tired or confused, while there were firefighters trying to put the fire out. Props for trying tho.
"This situation...is quite the experience," Midnight started. "But if you need anything, you can ask UA for help, Hawks."
Keigo stared at her, knowing that she meant well but it was still insulting that she only referred to him and not Touya as well. Not only that, Hawks was his hero name. His "hero" name...
Before he could correct her, Aizawa spoke up.
"As for Yukitomo-san...We request that you come with us to the police station for interrogation."
Touya snapped his attention towards him, suddenly not so relieved to see Aizawa.
"And if I don't want to go?"
"It seems that you and Dabi are counterparts. Any information you have would really help in apprehending him."
Oh. For a second he thought that he was being legitimately arrested.
"We were sent here against our will." Keigo snipped back, getting in a defensive stance in front of Touya (which he found endearing). "We'll stay out of your way but please, this isn't our problem."
"I'll think about it..."
Everyone snapped their heads towards Touya, surprised. Cardinal almost looked offended. Aizawa scrutinized him.
"You don't have to go to the police today." He stated simply, heaving a heavy sigh.
"Do you know what quirk it was that hit you? Do you know who attacked you?" Immediately changing the topic.
"We were unconscious, so no. I didn't see who had the quirk either. " He shuffled awkwardly, not knowing where this was going.
"Well, Yuki..." Thankfully, Keigo had an explanation. "If there's other versions of us, there's likely versions of the men that attacked us."
"Precisely." Eraserhead praised him, contented to know that Hawks's counterpart was just as sharp.
"We can help you search for them if you want," Present Mic spoke up. "...and you can stay at UA while we do so."
So that's why he brought up UA. Cardinal scuffed his shoe on the pavement, looking quite bothered.
"Uh.. Where's Hawks?" Touya wondered, confused at not seeing the other familiar hero.
"Oh, he wanted to stay and help put out the fire."
Cardinal hummed, still distressed but a little more at ease. Touya will have to ask about that later. The tension of the situation not really letting up, he fake-coughed.
"We'll think about it, alright?" He said as he grabs onto Cardinal's shoulder. As he was leading them away, he spared the heroes a glance over his shoulder.
"We really appreciate the concern but I think we'll manage for now. Bye!"
With that, Cardinal held him, fanned his wings out and took them to the sky.
...
The conference room was filled with awkward silence. The heroes knew that quirks were unpredictable but it wasn't like they could take into account ALL possibilities.
They weren't prepped for situations like "Alternative Universe Quirks" (as Eraserhead speculated) or "Weird Citizen Doppelganger Quirks" (as Ectoplasm suggested).
"That's quite the interesting event that happened." Nezu stated calmly, taking a sip of his tea. "And at 7: 30 am too!"
Aizawa, who had resorted to lying face down on the floor near Nezu's desk, just grunted.
Present Mic objected to that but he himself ended up reclining on the couch with his feet on the table, looking every bit tired. He wondered why the two young men declined going to UA, "Hawks" seemed almost hostile. Did they really not want the help?
Midnight was plopped on the opposite couch, contemplating on what she said to the other Hawks and what could've offended him. He thought she didn't notice but he gave her the cold shoulder.
Ectoplasm was sitting next to Midnight, recalling how the young avian from earlier started screeching and tried to push off of him, not even relaxing when his friend told him that Ectoplasm was a hero. He stared at his reflection on the tea cup. Was it because of his appearance..?
Vlad King was the only one not having a crisis, since he didn't even interact with either of the doppelgangers. Sure, he met Dabi before but the jittery shortstack with the guitar certainly wasn't a threat. It wasn't their business to intervene. But Aizawa did have a point, maybe the kid had info on his copy. They could finally maybe gain his background and arrest Dabi.
The heroes also all silently agreed to save the discussion of Yukitomo's and Hawks's relationship status for another time. They're having enough of a crisis as is.
Nezu clapped his paws to get their attention.
"There's certainly a lot to say! On one hand, our job as heroes is to help whoever it is in need but if the two young men refuse, that's fine! After all, it's their business. But on the other hand, taking them in and helping them will get us access to Dabi's counterpart, certainly he might have some useful information, hm? And you mentioned Hawks as well! What did he say?"
With all that out, the other pros thought about what they should say first.
"He just looked surprised." Vlad King shrugged then squinted. "Everyone was sort of...preoccupied...so we forgot to ask him what he thought about the situation."
The principal was still smiling but everyone could feel the disappointment pouring out of him like tea.
"It was unwise to leave Hawks alone after a case. You should've gotten him after they settled the forest fire. Hopefully he wasn't injured?"
"No. He wasn't." Eraserhead grunted.
"Should we call him over here then?" Present Mic piped up.
"I will do that!" Nezu spoke calmly. "Carry on with the rest of your day. I'll call you in when he's here to give us his insight."
The pros all lazily got back on their feet and went to their respective classes. Aizawa being the worse offender, staying on the floor for a good minute before getting kicked out by the principal.
...
After the forest fiasco, Hawks contemplated flying to his apartment right away to try and wake himself from this fever dream, or hunting down his other version and shaking him for answers.
Instead, he settled for going back to the clearing to retrieve the guitar the other Dabi had with him. He didn't know why he went back for it, maybe he wanted to give it back. Maybe use that as a clue to Dabi's background. He'll never know.
...
Who was he kidding? He knew exactly why. Those were just the reasons he gave the firefighters and police to leave him alone.
Unfortunately, he wasn't the only one with that idea.
There, at the clearing, Dabi stood, guitar slung on his shoulder. He tensed and cursed when he noticed Hawks's presence.
He immediately called for a portal, not wanting to deal with Hawks. He didn't have the energy for it. What was he supposed to say to the best friend he abandoned then befriended again under a different identity? "Oh sorry, I faked my death and became a villain. But don't worry, in a different reality, we're still together and happy. So that makes up for it." ???
Oh, and of all the million ways to have his identity revealed, it was the ridiculous event of having a not-so-scarred version of him suddenly showing up, along with a non-hero version of the overgrown pigeon.
What even.
"Wait, Touya-" Hawks started, wanting to discuss their situation. He was experiencing all the range of emotions at once. Touya was alive. Touya's Dabi. Touya's a villain. Touya left him.
Yes, all of the emotions at once.
Hawks deflated once Dabi entered the portal, not even sparing a glance at his direction.
...
"That's something I don't want to touch even with a twenty-foot pole." Keigo muttered bitterly from his hiding spot at least ten feet away from the clearing. He just wanted to grab Touya's guitar and get out as soon as possible. But alas-
"Kei, be nice." Touya whispered harshly, pleading that Keigo wouldn't push him out of the tree for convincing him to spy on their copies.
They watched as Dabi left and Hawks's posture seemed to resign. Keigo didn't feel sorry for him.
Touya wondered why Hawks hasn't spotted them yet. Maybe it was because the hero was currently crying. Just maybe.
Okay, so maybe Keigo felt a little sorry for him.
"You can come out now." Hawks said hoursely, after noticing the two. He wiped away his tears and regained some composure.
"Damn it." Keigo muttered and sent them both down onto the grass.
"Sorry." Hawks said suddenly, absolutely tired. "The other Touya got your guitar."
It was still a mind trip, having another version of themselves. Hawks wasn't trained for something as ridiculous as that.
The hero stared at his copy. The copy stared back. Hawks opened his mouth, probably to ask about everything that happened. Everything that happened at the commission. What happened in another reality altogether.
What happened to them?
Keigo wasn't having any of it though.
"I don't want us to get involved. Leave us alone. Settle your problems at your own time." He scowled, arms crossed.
The hostility made Hawks shut up. He wasn't intimidated. He wasn't.
"Lets get out of here." Keigo turned towards Touya. "We'll find your guitar some other time."
With that, Keigo grabbed his hand and walked him back towards the trees, leaving Hawks alone with his thoughts once more.
...
A lot happened in the span of a few hours so Touya didn't blame Keigo for being antsy and agitated. He wanted to go home too but Keigo was snapping at everyone, including- especially Hawks.
His normally cheerful, yet reserved Keigo was giving everyone the cold shoulder.
Well, everyone except himself, which is good but still-
"Kei... talk to me. What's wrong?" He squeezed the avian's hand in comfort. He's been raptor-stress-gripping his hand and it hurt, but Touya didn't mind.
"We're stuck in a different reality altogether, Tou! For all we know, the guy that did this is a villain here too or dead, you know? We might not be able to go home!" He snapped back. Realizing his mistake, he calmed down.
"Sorry. Sorry, I just..." He loosened his grip on Touya's abused palm. "I wanna go home."
"Me too, Feathers." Touya reassured him with a smile, that made Keigo's lips quirk up in response. "I wanna go home too but it seems like my counterpart did some pretty bad things. And I want to help with that first. Plus, they offered to help."
Keigo hummed in half appreciation, half agreement. Touya has always been the better person. He was patient, kind, thoughtful, and brave. He shouldn't have been surprised that Touya wanted to help the heroes. He felt pretty bad now.
"Sorry about earlier, Touya." He rubbed his thumb over the other's pinkish, probably painful hand. He'll have to make it up to him.
"If you want to help the heroes, I won't stop you . I'm actually proud." He smiled sweetly, making Touya blush. "Just know that if you feel uncomfortable there, I'll get us out."
"I'm sorry too, Kei. I should have asked you first." Touya interlaced his fingers with Keigo's, knowing that the other thinks it's painful, which it was but who cares.
They kept walking in comfortable silence for a moment before Touya spoke up.
"Would you like to tell me now what's been upsetting you? I doubt it's this situation entirely." He gave him a cheeky smile.
"You know me too well." The brunette snorted. He stared ahead before answering. "It's Hawks."
"Yeah, what about him?" He tilted his head innocently.
"You're way too calm for someone who has a villain counterpart." Keigo snorted and Touya just shrugged.
If he was being honest, Touya didn't know what to do about that. So his other self was a villain, he couldn't have prevented that. Might as well contribute what he can as an apology to this world. He was the type to go with the flow of things and always made the best out of any situation. This was no different.
"...Is it because Hawks is a hero?" Touya asked hesitantly, shifting the topic away from himself. Keigo sighed.
"No." He said lowly. "It's because he's the Commission's hero."
Ah. Of course he'd be upset. They ran away to avoid Keigo becoming a hero. A tool for the commission. That wasn't prevented here. But then again...
"We don't know that for sure." He defended, earning a look of confusion from the other.
"He was trying to talk to me- I mean, Dabi! I- Instead of arresting him! Maybe he's not as loyal as you think?" He wondered, flailing his other hand around in what was meant to be gesticulation.
"Eh..." Keigo's wings fluffed up in indignation.
"Have you seen the costume? He even has the symbol on him! That and fuck, how do I explain this?"
Touya just stared at him confused before smiling slightly.
"It's okay. Take your time."
Keigo shook with resentment, not at Touya, but at the absurdity of their situation and how to even put his problems into words. Keigo glanced at his boyfriend's expression. He was being patient and positive for the both of them. He should at least try for Touya.
So he sighed and collected his thoughts.
"Actually," Touya interrupted, "maybe we should sit down first."
He pointed towards a big tree in a small clearing, surrounded by lovely shrubbery. The ravenette smiled over his shoulder and plopped down. Keigo realized, this was Touya making him feel comfortable... and maybe preparing himself for some sort of breakdown.
The avian snorted and sat down next to him. The other just gave him a smile, encouraging him to continue. So he prepared himself again and spilled.
"We ran away to avoid this. I didn't want to be a hero. I don't want to be Hawks." He spat bitterly.
"We both know how the training went. We both know what we were required to do and to who. It just doesn't sit right with me, Tou!"
Sensing the dark subject matter, Touya put a hand on his shoulder and urged him to cut that segment short.
A pause.
"And don't get me started on the outfit!" Keigo exclaimed suddenly, earning a comical reaction. "What does he need a visor for? He's a bird, goddamnit! Then gloves! What's the point of having talons just for him to hide them! It would be easier to have both the talons and the feathers! And what is up with that body suit?"
Keigo cut his rant short when he realized Touya was looking at him with some mix between sympathy and amusement.
"They're making him hide his other bird traits." Touya simply stated, looking down at the grass.
"Exactly!" Keigo exclaimed, feathers fluffing up to reflect his agitation.
"I can't tell if you're resentful or concerned." Touya admitted sheepishly, causing Keigo to pause.
"...."
...
After getting back to the hideout, Dabi made a beeline towards his room, ignoring all of the questions he got his way, simply sidestepping when Toga lunged at him. He entered his room and locked the door, blocking out all of the noise.
Sitting at his bed, he opened the case and took out the guitar. It looked like it's only been around for five years or so. The case looked a little worn with a few sewn on buttons and knick-knacks. This brings up the question: What happened to his first guitar? Maybe he should ask "Yuki" once he sees him.
Looking back down at the instrument, he couldn't tell if the thing had been bought, given or stolen. Given his counterpart's earlier behavior, Dabi wouldn't put it past him to be physically incapable of committing crime, even petty theft. He cringed at the thought.
He held the instrument properly and started strumming. The soft melody (of any comfort song YOU have in mind) made him bring back a memory. A time when music still held meaning and so did love.
...
"I can't believe they let you keep your guitar." Touya heard his team mate mutter when he showed off what his father dropped off earlier.
"It's my sperm donor's way of asking me to be compliant." He answered coolly, ignoring the other's reaction to him being crude.
"It doesn't work though. But hey, at least I have my guitar!" He grinned in triumph as his acquaintance merely gave him a dry look.
He walked back to his bunk, hoping to tell his best friend and room mate the relatively good news. He knocked first, just in case. With no answer from the other, he opened the door and walked in.
"Kei..?" He asked softly upon entering.
Keigo's bed was empty but his wings gave him away from where he was sitting next to the bed. Touya walked closer, only to find him hiding his face as he hugged his knees and hunched in on himself.
"Kei...talk to me." He crouched down to level with him. He pried his arms to see his face. "What's wrong?"
"Tou..." Keigo looked up at him with watery eyes. He looked like he just started crying which is not good but better than having been hours.
Touya sat next to him and gave him a hug, urging him to continue when he's ready.
"T- They're gonna clip my talons, m-my wings, and - and they're gonna take away my bird noises!" He cried, clutching the other boy's shirt. Touya started running his fingers through blonde tresses and planted a kiss on top of them.
"I'm sorry, feathers..." The preteen muttered, not knowing what else to say. He wished he could hurt them. Make they pay. Make them suffer . For everything that they did to them, especially Keigo. But he couldn't. If he did anything, they would take that all out on Keigo as punishment.
It was hopeless.
"I... I wish we could run away, Touya...." His sobs dissolved into sniffling.
"I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing?"
"I'm weak. I can't protect you."
It was true. They wouldn't have made it. They would have been hunted down by anyone, especially the commission. Touya wouldn't be able to protect Keigo, and that was the worst thing imaginable.
"So?" Keigo interrupted. He pulled away to stare at the other, eyes shining with so much love and conviction. "We'll protect each other!"
Touya smiled sadly.
"We'll have to make do for now, feathers. I'm sorry."
Keigo probably didn't like that but made no objections.
"...I'm sorry." Touya said again, rubbing the back of his neck.
He wasn't good with words. The only ways he comforted Keigo were through physical reassurance and...
"Ah. Wait here."
Keigo watched as the older boy stood up and went to retrieve something on his bed. He came back with the guitar he mentioned some time before.
"C-can I sing you a song instead?"
The way Keigo's eyes lit up reminded Touya of the stars.
...
Some time during the song, Dabi started to cry blood. He clutched the instrument on himself as his thoughts took over.
He faked his death and left his best friend, thinking that that was best for Keigo. He didn't think he would cross paths with him again. But as fate would have it, Hawks showed up one day asking to join the League. That was out of Dabi's control, he couldn't have known or prevented that.
But that didn't excuse his actions afterwards, especially after learning of Hawks's true intentions. Instead of pushing Hawks away, he kept coming back to him. Kept insisting of getting closer to Hawks-befriending him and even hanging out at the hero's apartment. He just rendered the point of leaving Keigo useless.
What's even worse is that Hawks reciprocated.
They became friends again, though Dabi wished that they were something more.
Now that Hawks knew who he was, what then? They were on opposite sides of a never-ending war. It didn't change what they both did for their causes. It still felt hopeless.
But somewhere, somehow there was a version of him that lived and stayed with Keigo.
Thinking about the alternative Touya, Dabi couldn't help but feel a bit of jealousy. But more than that, awe and hope.
Maybe he could do the same for Hawks now.
...
Hawks should have expected being called over to UA.
After his encounter with the copies, he received a notification from the principal. He took a few minutes to compose himself and curse out Dabi before flying over to the school.
He walked slowly over to the office, dreading the idea of talking to the pros. He didn't hate them, not at all. He just didn't form any connections with his coworkers. He considered Rumi his acquaintance but not friend. They got along, sure but it wasn't enough. The only real friend he had was Dabi, but given their current situation, maybe not for long.
"Hawks! Please take a seat." Nezu greeted once he entered the conference room.
"Hey." He greeted, uncharactaristically meek. Everyone in the room noticed that he looked bothered and tired.
"How are you doing, Hawks? Tea?" Nezu offered.
Hawks took the cup but set it down. He never liked tea. He was more of a coffee person.
"I take it we're gonna discuss what happened this morning?" He asked, not beating around the bush, wanting this done and over with.
"Indeed!" Nezu agreed. "Yukitomo-san said that perhaps he'll help in apprehending Dabi."
Seems like the principal didn't want to beat around the bush either.
"Really? That's great!" Hawks said, feigning enthusiasm.
He thought it was nice of Touya to consider of helping the heroes. His mind briefly flashed to a scandalized Dabi's reaction to a copy of him helping heroes. It made Hawks internally snicker.
But wait... the possiblity of Touya offering to help getting Dabi arrested meant two things: Dabi finally going to Tartarus (there's no way an LOV member only gets jail), and Hawks having to see Keigo.
"Hawks." Eraserhead interrupted his thoughts.
"Hm?" He turned towards the older man, who was leaning against a wall, probably avoiding him.
"We would like to know your thoughts about the situation." The teacher explained. "There is another version of you."
"How could you tell that was me, anyway?" Hawks scratched his cheek, feigning stupidity.
The pro heroes in the room just gave him dry looks.
"Your reaction to seeing another avian." Ectoplasm remarked.
"Quirks like yours are pretty rare." Midnight remarked.
"Your face is very recognizable." Vlad King remarked.
"You looked distracted during the fight." Eraserhead remarked, judging him.
Hawks felt sort of threatened. He didn't know that Eraserhead was watching him. What else did the man notice? Hopefully nothing else.
"Young Hawks." When did AllMight get here?
"Yeah?" Hawks asked, schooling his expression back to professional and calm. He couldn't afford showing vulnerability here, in front of all these people.
"We would just like to know how you feel about the whole situation." All Might's voice was soothing, it was nice of him but it didn't help.
Of course they wanted to discuss the elephant in the room. Everyone saw how close "Dabi" and "Hawks" were. Everyone saw that.
Too bad Hawks didn't want to join that discussion.
"Well, If the other man is another version of me," Hawks started, coming up with an excuse on the spot. "Then I think it's plausible to say that all of the relationships here in this world is extremely different from theirs."
"In conclusion?" Nezu added,
"I'm not all that bothered. As long as they stay out of trouble. Besides, they're trying to get back to their world as soon as possible, right?"
It made sense to act like the whole situation was just the complete opposite of this world. And not some close alternative or half truth.
"Well, Principal Nezu, thank you for having me today but I think I should be getting back to my patrol."
With that, Hawks stood up and gave a polite bow. Making it clear that he did not want to speak to them any longer. No matter how rude it may be. He's the Top 2 Pro Hero, he's not under their jurisdiction.
He gave one last wave to the pros before walking out the door. Out of sight, he shook and ruffled his feathers, as if to get the nervousness out. A practice he hid from everyone, especially the Commission.
The pro heroes just looked at one another then back at the door, varying levels of concern on their faces.
Eraserhead narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
...
Hawks floated just outside of campus grounds, cursing the universe(s?) for his shitty luck. He almost had a visceral reaction to them accusing him of something. In his defense, he was emotionally and physically exhausted.
Hawks wanted to go back to his apartment to pretend that all this was a nightmare, but he had a schedule to follow and he still needed to talk to "Keigo" and "Touya" at some point. He had a lot on his plate and it wasn't even afternoon yet.
Hawks begrudgingly went on his patrol, helping a few people with menial tasks here and there, waving at a few fans, and giving autographs and pictures.
With all of that out of the way, his thoughts wandered towards his other version. Keigo looked so much different and it wasn't because he dyed his hair and wings. It was the outfit and demeanor he had.
The sharp, black talons were bare (HC would never). The baggy, black clothes hid a lot of skin but it certainly looked more comfortable than Hawks's own suit and jacket- and if he focused enough, he could see scaly shins poking out of those jeans.
As for Keigo's demeanor, he was rather resentful and hostile towards Hawks. Thinking back on it, he didn't blame him. He would definitely hate himself if he were Keigo. Wait.
...
Hostility aside, Keigo looked much more wild, free, uncaged and unburdened by the responsibilities of being a hero. Hawks never thought he'd see a version of his face that didn't have bags under his eyes or a painful, strained smile. The other didn't look like he stayed awake at night thinking about the lives he took or ruined. He didn't look like he was walking on eggshells, smiling and pretending for everyone he met.
He looked real.
And he looked happy - with Touya.
Hawks couldn't help but feel jealous. Those two were probably frolicking in the forest while Hawks couldn't even get his Touya to talk to him. It was petty of Hawks to be jealous of himself but eh, sue him.
After a while of walking, Hawks decided to just perch on top of a nearby building to continue thinking. His patrol required him to walk laps around different blocks but perching on a high point saves him time and effort. Not that the Commission cares.
He didn't want to be a hero. Sure, it was fulfilling to help people and it gave him a sense of validation when people look up to him but all that will not last. If you stripped him of his hero status, you'll have nothing but an empty husk of a person.
The "Takami Keigo" of this universe has been dormant when he was six, only showing himself to Touya- then when Touya "died", Keigo died with him.
Distantly, Hawks realized that he was stress gripping his left wrist.
He grew up without the most important person in his life. He was alone and miserable and it still feels like that now. He wondered if Dabi felt the same way.
Thinking back to the other versions, Hawks wondered what those two did to achieve a different ending.
His curiosity at its highest point, Hawks decided that he would find them and shake them both for answers.
...
After a long conversation about laying off the hostility towards the heroes -especially Hawks, Touya and Keigo ended up just resting under the shade. Keigo leaning against the tree with his legs stretched out as Touya lays his head on them. The silence was comfortable, even with the occasional birds chirping or critters hissing.
"Are you hungry yet?" Keigo asked after a while of silently stroking Touya's spiky black hair.
"What, are you planning on feeding me?" Touya teased, sticking his tongue out playfully. Something smacked Touya on the forehead when he blinked. He looked at Keigo to find him smirking with mischief.
"Yeah," Keigo picked up the apple he dropped on Touya. "Say aah~"
Touya merely smirked at his teasing and opened up his mouth to annoy him.
Keigo didn't even bother to slice the fruit into pieces and shoved the whole thing into Touya's mouth. The ravenette quickly sat up and spat the apple out into his hands.
Keigo started snickering as Touya glared at him.
"Sorry~" The blonde's snickering stopped as he gestured for the other to hand over the apple. Touya maintained eye contact and just bit into the apple, just to spite him. Keigo just stared at him like he was an idiot.
"Saves me the effort, Cinders." Keigo teased and leaned back into a comfortable position. After eating half, Touya handed the fruit over to Keigo. He chirped as thanks but declined. Touya shrugged and finished the rest.
After a prolonged comfortable silence, Keigo spoke up again.
"Do you want to go now?"
"Sure."
With that, they both stood up and took a rather long path to UA. They weren't really in a hurry anyway, and it was an excuse to meander around downtown like it was a vacation, instead of a quirk crisis.
...
Ashtray
Hey
11:00 am
Can I come over? I want to talk now.
11:01 am
Oh, now he wants to talk? Hawks scoffed, glaring at his phone mid-air. A few fan girls squealed at the sight of him, probably wondering if he was talking to his "girlfriend" again.
He pondered for a minute if he should prioritize finding the doubles of themselves or solving his issue with Dabi first. Perhaps Keigo would be less hostile if Hawks fixed things with Dabi first. What did he know?
Deciding that somehow Dabi would be easier to talk to than his damn self, Hawks snorted and replied.
Bird Brain
...
Alright...
Where are you right now?
11:25 am
Ashtray
At the base.
I'll be dropping by.
11:26 am
Bird Brain
I'm on patrol rn.
I'll see you after.
11:27 am
Ashtray
Ok.
11:28 am
Hawks glared at his phone. Dabi seemed somewhat hesitant if the lack of snide remarks were anything to go by.
He huffed, it was kinda hard to stay mad when Dabi wasn't being annoying.
Having a few more hours before his "break", Hawks decided to continue his patrol from above. He pocketed his phone, sort of heavy with the promise of bringing up the past.