Chapter Text
Prologue
It was by sheer dumb luck that Eraserhead managed to spot the A ranked villain, Dabi, while out on non-hero business with Eri. The two had been walking out of a shop and into a crowded street, when Eraser happened to glance in just the right direction to notice the shady figure in a hooded coat, seamlessly making his way through the mass of people; too skilled to be a civilian, but too suspicious looking to be a hero. With the League of Villains still priority number one, he could only wonder if the villain, Dabi could be covered head-to-toe like that on such a hot day.
Others have called him paranoid before, but that paranoia has kept him alive, and his hunches have led to many arrests. So, he trusted his instincts and followed the figure at a distance, telling Eri they would just take a quick detour.
As they followed, Eraser noticed more details about the man – the spikey black hair that stuck out sometimes, the slight discoloration of the hands when he’d take them out of his pockets (technically too far away to confirm but he was pretty sure they were burnt), the more he observed, the more he was sure. Eventually the man seemed to have noticed he was being tracked and picked up the pace, maneuvering in and out of tight areas trying to lose them. Eraserhead cursed, he had not wanted to call in any backup until he could confirm that this person was definitely Dabi, but at this rate, he would lose him entirely. He also hadn’t had enough time to find Eri somewhere safe to lay low before they started and couldn’t drag her along for a longer chase, now. He quickly pulled out his phone and dialed Present Mic who was also going into the city, today and should be nearby.
“Mic, I’m in pursuit of a suspicious person, who might be Dabi. If it is, I’ll need backup so tell at least one other person to be on standby. But I have Eri with me. We’re almost at the rundown area of the city, I want to corner him before he slips away, but it’s no place for her. Come to the location I’m sharing with you, Eri will have my phone, stay with her. Keep an eye out for smoke.”
After he hung up and sent the location, he knelt down to Eri and told her to find someplace nearby to sit, out of sight, and wait for Mic. If she didn’t feel safe, then move out of sight, and find another place. He wouldn’t go far, yet, just enough for an idea of where the man could have gone, and he’ll set out once Present Mic got to the area.
Eri looked nervous but nodded determinedly and Eraser took that as his cue to take off running after Dabi.
What Eraserhead hadn’t known, though, was that Dabi hadn’t just realized he was being followed, he noticed and planned on losing him and then backtracking; hoping that Eraser would keep going in that direction, so that he could take another route back to base. So as Eraser made his way to catch up with Dabi, Dabi lit some fires as a distraction (the hero would have to stop and put those out, giving him more time) and basically went in a large circle, navigating the lower-class area with ease, until he made his way back towards the divide. He figured that Eraser would continue to search the shadier for him instead, probably calling in back up, but not realizing that Dabi would head back the other way.
He didn’t realize, or care, that Eri would have been left in the safer area, staying hidden in the shadows of the backways they went. Neither would he think that a little girl’s quirk could be so dangerous…
When he made it back out and went to take the back ways again, he bumped into her. And poor Eri, who recognized the coat of the man they had been following, and realizing how dangerous he could have been, well… a lot of children activate their quirks in fear.
And she did.
Eri had been learning to control her quirk more, to be less afraid of it, and gain confidence with it. But she still didn’t have the best control over it, especially when unintentionally activated. She could only remember the other times it had been out of her control – her blood forcibly taken and used to hurt people, to take away their quirks. And that is why, though she didn’t have much control in the moment, she concentrated on that feeling of resistance, of not wanting to rewind somebody’s quirk. Subconsciously, she influenced one outcome of her quirk, though nobody would realize it until later.
When Eraserhead ran back after hearing Eri’s scream a few blocks away, Erasure already activated as he jumped into the scene, he found Eri, shaken but unharmed, and a small baby with white hair and several streaks of red, unconscious under a pile of Dabi’s clothes.
The unconscious infant was taken into UA’s custody, after Eraserhead called in the situation, as he didn’t know if Eri’s quirk would affect his memories or not. He also collected Dabi’s clothes – confirming it was him through his usual outfit underneath the coat, and the blue fires left around the area, along with his wallet and phone, for evidence.
He was met with the other teachers and Recovery Girl, who checked Dabi out to make sure there were no injuries or ill effects. She confirmed none and ran a few other tests, putting the baby at around 5 to 6 months old.
“He’s smaller than normal, looking a couple months younger than he is, but otherwise healthy. My guess is he was born premature.”
She also provided them with a list of childcare essentials, “Whether he remembers himself or not, his body is now that of an infant’s and he’s going to need a lot of care. Remember that when you’re figuring out the best course of action.”
They called one of the 3rd years to run to the store for a few immediately necessary items, while they discussed what to do.
Chapter 1
Dabi awakens hours later, feeling a bit dizzy and wondering what that quirk did to him. He tries to sit up but is having some difficulty.
What the hell, he wonders as he can’t find the strength move his upper body.
He tries to look around to get his bearings, only really seeing the blurry form of a ceiling and plain walls. He also notices that he was apparently laid out on a long table, and that somebody had stripped him and put some weird underwear on him?
Why aren’t I tied down? Is it because I’m still under the effect of that quirk? That doesn’t mean I’m not still dangerous, he thinks as he kicks his legs out to see if his lower body was affected too.
Somebody lets out a giggle to his right.
He freezes, then tries to twist his body around to see. It doesn’t do much. A blurry form is suddenly from his peripheral vision, and making its way towards him-
Whoa, this person is huge. Not as big as Gigantomachia, but- wait a minute, as the person gets closer, he realizes that it’s deflated All Might, except now even his frail form is bigger than his current size. Did that quirk shrink me?!
All Might stops in front of him and picks him up from under his arms – what? – and sets him sitting down. He has to place his hands out in front of him to stop himself from falling because for some reason, he can’t fight very well against gravity, right now.
“Ah good, you’re awake,” Nezu calls from where Dabi can make out the blurry forms of the other UA teachers. “If you have your memories then you may be a bit confused.”
What do my memories have to do with anything? Did I hit my head too? He wonders as Nezu studies his face, intently.
“If you don’t, then you may just be a very curious baby,” he chuckles.
BABY?!
“By-ah?!” Is what comes out, but it’s similar enough for everyone to make the connection. Some people chuckle at his reaction and if he weren’t so shocked, he would glare at them.
“Yes, ‘baby,’” the rat-thing principal confirmed like he didn’t just shift Dabi’s entire world. “You came into contact with Eri, who has the quirk ‘Rewind’, and not much practice with controlling it. You spooked her when you ran back into the alley and well… this is the result.”
Dabi looks down in shock at himself, no longer covered in scars and staples, he realizes he can now feel in places he hasn’t been able to in years. His body is soft with baby fat and a healthy color. It’s so different, he can’t believe he didn’t realize before.
Maybe I was in denial? Hell, I think I still am, this doesn’t seem real.
“Well, that seems to confirm that he has his memories,” he heard someone say from the table, his mind not registering who, at the moment.
“Good, now he can face consequences for his actions.”
“It’s not that simple! You heard what Recovery Girl said, it doesn’t matter if he has his memories or not, he’s still tiny and helpless, now!”
Hey! I am not helpless, he thinks as he glares at them. I can still feel my fire flowing under the surface.
“What are we supposed to do, call Tartarus and ask them to design a baby-sized and furnished cell? Hire a few nannies?”
“We might not have a choice-”
“Maybe we can call the Hero Commission and they’ll have an idea?”
“Nuh!” Dabi yells out before he realizes he does it. But still, no way would I be a Hero Commission brat. Not with the way they brainwash and fuck up kids. I’d rather rot in Tartarus.
“I hate to agree with the villain, but I don’t trust the commission with something like this, I’ve seen way too much shady business when it comes to them.”
“Maybe he can stay with a hero, be re-raised?”
“Nuh!” He yells again, though this time he’s ignored.
“What hero would possibly want to take him in long term?”
“What about Endeavor? He has at least one kid already-”
Dabi freezes at the mention of Endeavor and he shrieks another loud ‘no’ causing the teachers to all look at him. Before any of them could question that response, he starts to scream an entire round of “no no no nos” shaking his head, as if trying to clear the suggestion from his head.
“Sweetheart-”
And that felt like the last straw. He wasn’t helpless, he wasn’t going to be reliant on his father who he was trying to kill, and he wasn’t a sweetheart. He wasn’t actually a baby, and he would show them that-
He releases the feeling of his quirk, fueled by all his frustration, it flares out around him, and through the room. It’s not as hot as his adult form’s, not even close, but it’s still there and can still attack and defend him and it-
It burns.
It burns in a way that he hasn’t felt in a long time, and he can’t help the feeling of panic that washes over him. He shrieks louder and more agonizing than he had before, and his body sobs without his consent at the pain.
It only lasts a few moments before he feels his quirk deactivate, and the fire is put out, but he still feels himself screaming and crying. He can’t stop, his body isn’t listening.
The only thing he can do is ride it out and experience the feeling of having actual tears to cry again, instead of blood.
Eraserhead did not expect Dabi to still be in possession of his quirk, none of them had. He knows that Eri tried to stop her quirk by remembering what Chisaki had used it for, but he didn’t think she had done much more than slow it down. He’ll have to tell her.
Eraser waits for Dabi’s fire, not nearly as deadly as before, to dissipate away from his eyes so he can use his quirk (it’s nowhere near an emergency, if the other teachers couldn’t dodge that then they had no use being heroes), when Dabi suddenly shrieks again, this time in pain.
He forces his eyes open passed the smoke and lingering heat to stop the fire. It dissipates. But Dabi is still sobbing and shrieking, new burns litter his arms and torso.
He and the other teachers freeze with indecision, until Yagi breaks away from the haze and runs over to Dabi. He grabs the baby, holds him in a cradle and starts rocking him, shushing him, and whispering words of comfort.
Dabi still sobs but Yagi continues. Someone calls for recovery girl. He only just starts to calm down as she arrives. She checks him over murmuring about ‘incompatible quirk syndrome’ before finally healing him.
“I’ll take him for now, like Eri, I’ll need to be present to stop his quirk before he hurts somebody. Several students in 1A should also be able to combat his fire without issue.”
That’s the last thing Dabi heard before he passed back out.