Chapter Text
There have been many mistakes in his life. Perhaps enough to last him three lifetimes, from his naivete to his ignorance. And though that long ago night was a mistake, too, and he could hardly remember that woman — Eri was no mistake.
She was the best thing he had ever done.
But he couldn't stay with her, living on the street; he couldn't bring her to his safe places because they weren't designed for a one-year-old child (and doesn't that hurt? to find out he had a daughter only a year later); he couldn't let such a tender and beautiful creature be bound to him.
His revenge would ruin him and him alone; he is not his own father; he will not drag his child down with him.
In leaving her, he hoped (dangerous, what a dangerous word in his life) that he would give her a better life, happier and more serene, childlike and peaceful.
So.
As has been said before.
Todoroki Touya Dabi is prone to make mistakes.
She disappeared two years later.
And no matter how much he searches, no matter how many he burns along the way, no matter how many he tortures — no one tells him where.
And the world turns blue.
When he came to the League, he said it was because of his worship of the Stain. (Which wasn't a lie, he really respected the man, just that his priorities were shifted.) Otherwise, he would have had a hard time finding All For One.
Dabi had long ago ceased to feel such a simple thing as fear — the only thing left in his veins was the rage, grief, and despair that fueled him not to breathe smoke on every interlocutor when he almost demanded a meeting with the boogeyman of the underworld. He didn't care, two more years had passed and he refused to think he would never find her.
Dabi is unimpressed with the man's aura or his influence from the height of his goals — he came only for them.
Dabi says he will work for them if they look for his daughter.
All For One looks thoughtful, even understanding, as they make the deal.
From one father to another.
(All For One may feel respect for a man who burns the world for his child, though it is dangerous to hold someone who will not be completely loyal to them.
Kidnap his child in return?
Oh, All for One is not so foolish as to watch even without quirks such people level cities with the earth).
The world burns and burns around him as he looks up at the stars and listens to the screams.
Today is Eri's fifth birthday.
So much time passes, he learns to take care of the stupid and younger members of the League because he has to occupy his mind with something between his helplessness and uselessness.
He has a hard time looking at Tomura, he doesn't look like her at all, but his red eyes and white hair make him reflexively be gentle with him, for which he always gets a tantrum from Toga for not treating her that way, and from Shigaraki himself, which is always on the verge of trying to spray him in the wind.
Dabi thinks he'd be okay with that.
When Magne gets killed, oddly enough, you have to hold him, not Tomura.
Because how dare he, who does he think he is, some lousy crappy yakuza...
He's not ready to lose someone, he can't, he doesn't want to, his mind can't take it again.
"I'll kill him", Dabi says, and his skin melts with a bubbling of pure righteous anger.
Tomura is the only one holding him back, he says it's not time yet.
The time never comes.
And then the characters show up on stage and there's Eri.
There's Eri with bandages and a shirt, barely caught on the security cameras, too small for his age, and he didn't even know it.
He walks away, almost burning the whole neighborhood down.
Not looking back, not responding.
He needs patience, he needs planning, he needs to take one fucking breath so he can stop melting concrete under his feet.
He washes the paint out of his hair without looking in the mirror and puts on a medical mask as he walks onto UA property with their Cultural Festival.
He doesn't think she remembers him. That she knows him. But he picks her up carefully and gently at the caramel apple counter while her third-year caretaker is distracted just for a second (it was enough for him.; he's missed that one second for so many years).
Maybe it's because he's been gentle or careful, but Eri doesn't scream or twitch in his arms.
Her big eyes stare at him, and he realizes that nothing could or could be dearer than her in his life. He hears a panicked scream with his daughter's name behind him, but he doesn't speed up or slow down, he's smarter than that. He hides between the curtain walls of the counters, away from the sun, pulling his sunglasses down from his eyes.
"Hello, treasure", his voice is even huskier than usual, but it seems fate has decided to grant him one small favor.
His daughter smiles at him (he's sure she wasn't smiling while he was watching her walk), and says quietly and uncertainly: dad?
And, oh, could Dabi ask for more right now?
(Later he will ask how she recognized him, and she will say that she remembers his hot hands and husky voice. Later, he will sneak around with a little combat more designed for speed than for killing. Later, he will hide from the pro-heroes and the League.
But here and now, he draws figures of fire to see Eri smile once more).