Chapter Text
Today was the day that Dabi was going to be taken to UA to start with the rehabilitation program. The whole night before he had trouble sleeping, mostly just tossing and turning in his bed, his chest hurt while anxiety clawed at his thoughts. He was scared, even if he trusted Shouta and Hizashi, he was literally about to walk into hero central. Along with the kids, he helped terrorise during the camping trip.
He ended up drifting asleep early in the morning only to be gently shaken awake from what only felt like a few minutes of sleep. Dabi grumbled tiredly, ignoring Hizashi’s amused look as he sat up slowly, he had to admit that having scarred under his eyes hid any dark under bags he would get from not sleeping well.
“ You all packed, Dabi? I got breakfast ready, so after you are washed up we can get to the school while the students are still in classes. ” Hizashi signed while watching Dabi reach over for his hearing aids which were set on the bedside table and put them in.
“..yeah, all packed. You didn’t have to get me all those clothes...but thank you…” Dabi mumbled softly, as he got up slowly, he could already feel his body protesting the lack of sleep as he started to feel the all familiar ache thrum through his body.
Hizashi seemed to pick up on it almost instantly, Dabi didn’t know who was more of a mother hen, Hizashi or Shouta. “Bad pain day?” He asked gently, hands reaching out to gather up his own hands and held them gently. The warmth briefly chased away the ache building up in his hands. “I’ll get your pills ready, and let Shouta know but if it gets worse tell us, alright?”
Dabi just nodded in response, before Hizashi left the room to let him get dressed in peace. He changed into a soft long-sleeved shirt, a thick hoodie that had a large hood, and then some loose sweatpants. He didn’t feel like dressing up nicely, he just wanted to be comfortable. Dabi then sent Hawks a ‘good morning’ message, the hero was still anxious about him disappearing again so several messages throughout the day to make his bird happy wasn’t a hardship. He usually got photos of shiny rocks and stuff in return, he secretly found it adorable and let the man indulge in the instinctual part of his quirk whenever he could.
He then made his bed before grabbing the duffle bag full of clothes and what small amount of belonging he had off of the floor. He walked out of the bedroom after a brief look at his bedroom, he was going to miss it while he was at UA. Dabi set the duffle bag next to the door before shuffling into the kitchen where Hizashi was setting food on the table. He already missed Apples and Shoelace, usually, Shoelace would be with him but the cats had already been taken to the school by Shouta.
“..thanks, ‘zashi..” Dabi mumbled softly, reaching for the pills set out ready for him and swallowed them dry.
The voice hero looked at Dabi in concern while pushing Dabi’s favourite breakfast towards him, it was porridge with some cinnamon, honey and a sprinkle of dried fruits. It was filling and light on his stomach, they still had a long way to get him used to a constant source of food. “If you're not feeling great, we can skip the introduction part and get you settled in your room first, then deal with all that later…”
Dabi just shrugged as he slowly picked at his breakfast, his stomach was rolling with nausea, he really didn’t feel like eating at all but he knew Hizashi would want him to eat at least a couple of bites.
“...It’s fine, they are going to have to see me on my bad days anyway since they happen more often than not…” He sighed then ate a spoonful of porridge, grimacing as it tasted like ash in his mouth. Damn, he really wasn’t having a good day, he set the spoon down. Hizashi made his way around the table and pulled the smaller man into a hug, he was gentle though not wanting to put too much pressure on Dabi’s already sensitive skin.
“Alright, let’s just get going, hmm? We can also reheat that later if you get hungry,” Hizashi continued to speak to the ex-villain softly. Dabi nodded his head against the taller man’s shirt, they remained there for a little bit before they got up from the table.
Dabi hesitated near the door after getting his new combat boots on, ever since Shouta brought him here, he hasn’t left the apartment. He hasn’t felt so safe before and now he is leaving this safe place. Hizashi picked up the duffle bag off the floor and gently grabbed Dabi’s hand, “come on, sweetheart. Shou is waiting for us.”
“..Ok,” Dabi mumbled, letting the blonde-haired man direct him to the car and he slipped into the passenger seat grabbing the blanket from the back seat. Hizashi put the duffle bag in the trunk of the car before slipping into the driver's seat. Dabi curled up in the seat after clicking the seatbelt and covered himself with the blanket.
Hizashi chuckled before he drove off, turning the radio on low as the scarred man drifted off for a nap. The drive to the school didn’t take long, but when they arrived, Hizashi didn’t have the heart to wake the young man up. So a quick message later to Shouta, the dark-haired man soon came walking out of the school towards the car and opened the passenger side door. Shouta looked at Dabi with a soft gaze, then looked at Hizashi who just smiled at him.
Shouta carefully unbuckled Dabi, then scooped up the small man into his arms, stepping back from the car. Hizashi got out to get the duffle bag from the boot, “I’ll meet you inside, baby!” He called out. Aizawa just nodded and walked into the staff’s dorm building, which was in the middle of all the student dorms. Most of the other students and teachers were in classes, so he made it to his and Hizashis mini apartment on the ground floor where Cementoss recently helped install another bedroom.
Dabi mumbled softly in his arms as he carefully adjusted the scarred man to open the door, Shouta just smiled to himself as he walked into the small apartment. He went straight towards the third bedroom which was next to his and Hizashis bedroom, Eri’s bedroom was on the other side.
He kicked the bedroom door open carefully to reveal a bedroom that was painted white, yet still had colour. The curtains and bedding were a midnight blue, a large pile of many soft blankets were piled on the bed. The desk, bookshelves and bedside table are made from dark oak. Hizashi had hung up purple and blue lanterns above the bed and set up a large spread of art pencils and sketchbooks on the desk ready for Dabi to use. Other than that it was a bit bare but, the pair felt that Dabi should be able to personalise it himself.
Shouta stepped into the bedroom going straight for the bed, not long after him, Hizashi walked in and set Dabi’s duffle bag down near the doorway. He then moved over and pulled the bedding down, so Shouta could lay Dabi down. The white-haired man didn’t even stir as his boots were taken off, hearing aids set on the bedside table and was tucked under the thick duvet. After making sure their oldest was sleeping peacefully, with the curtains closed and the lanterns turned on, Hizashi and Shouta left the room but left the door partly open in case Dabi needed them.
“Bad night?” Shouta asked as he continued on to their small kitchen to make a cup of coffee, stepping over a sleeping Shoelace. Apples were somewhere in the apartment.
“I think so, he needed his pills this morning and he could barely eat his breakfast too. That’s in the fridge already in case he wants it later…” Hizashi replied, sitting at the kitchen bench pulling out his phone to check the time, he had his English classes that afternoon. While Shouta had the afternoon off to help Dabi settle into the school and his new schedule.
“Hmm, I’ll take him to see Recovery Girl if he is still hurting when he wakes up.” Shouta turned around with a large coffee cup in his hand, the brew steaming hot. Hizashi got up from the stool, gave his husband on the cheek as he passed on his way to the fridge to grab a bottle of iced tea.
“Good, I’ll see you both later, my next class starts soon.” Hizashi said as he headed out, “oh, I’ll bring Hitoshi after his classes for a family dinner.”
“...pizza?” Shouta called out after his husband, only to get a laugh in response.
Aizawa huffed in amusement, taking a sip of his coffee as he walked to the dining room table to continue marking his students' assignments while he waited for Dabi to wake up from his nap.
After an hour or so, Aizawa heard faint noises coming from Dabi’s room. He set the pen he was using down and rushed to the bedroom to find the scarred man curled up, gripping the bedsheets tightly as he subconsciously attempted to remain quiet. It was clear he was having a nightmare, not one of his worst but it was enough that he was covered in a thin layer of sweat.
Shouta knelt next to the bed, carefully reaching out and gently shaking the young man’s shoulder to wake him up. Dabi jolted, his quirk suppression cuffs flashing as he instinctively reacted to a non-existent threat. His blue eyes searched the room frantically and his breathing was erratic, he looked terrified. The dark-haired man slowly grabbed Dabi’s hands, causing the young man to look at Shouta.
Upon seeing him, Dabi seemed to instantly calm down and basically dove into Shouta’s open arms. The underground hero wrapped his arms around the ex-villain holding him gently as he shook violently. Shouta shifted so he was sitting on the bed, and continued to hold Dabi as he pulled himself together. It took him some time but Shouta didn’t mind just hugging him, he obviously needed the comfort.
Dabi pulled away slowly pushing back the memory of the nightmare, it was filled with bright orange fire and crying, no, begging. But he could never remember the words.
Aizawa looked at him, his dark eyes searching his face carefully before his face softened and raised his hands, “ How are you feeling? ‘Zashi says you were hurting this morning? ” He decided to not bring up Dabi’s nightmare, knowing the scarred man didn’t like to talk about it straight away.
Dabi ran a hand through his white hair with a heavy sigh, his body was aching but it hadn’t gotten worse which was better than nothing. “ It’s not too bad, just aching …” He answered, before reaching over to grab his hearing aids. This seemed to bring his attention to the rest of the room.
Shouta decided he would take Dabi to see Recovery Girl after a late lunch; he had already missed a meal that day. For now, though, he was content watching the kid look at the room in awe, it was sad that something as basic as a room was something to be in awe of.
“Like it? ‘Zashi put most of it together, but he left a lot so you can personalise it.” Shouta commented after seeing Dabi put his hearing aids in.
“...It’s soothing,” Dabi had a small warm smile on his face, his eyes fixated on the lit-up lanterns above his bed. The voice heroes seemed to realise how much he liked soothing, cool lights. He didn’t like warm colours like red, orange and yellow, Hawks was the only exception as the winged hero didn’t remind him of fire. Red fire.
“He’ll be happy to know you like it, come on, you need to eat something,” Shouta got up off the bed, handheld out which Dabi happily took before he was pulled up off of the bed.
The pair walked out of the room and Aizawa briefly gave Dabi a quick tour of the apartment layout before directing him to the dining table. He ordered the young man to sit while he made something simple, grilled cheese and tomato soup. He had heard from All Might that it was great comfort food. His other kids seemed to like it, so he kept making it and hopefully, Dabi liked it just as much as Hitoshi and Eri.
Dabi indeed loved it.
The short man seemed to have gained his appetite as he devoured the soup and grilled sandwich, much to Shouta’s amusement. The older man left him briefly to get another cup of coffee before returning and sat down at the table.
“After this, we are going to see Recovery Girl, she might have some ideas to help with your chronic pains…” Shouta said over his large mug before taking a large sip. Dabi’s eyes shifted to look at him, swallowing his bite of bread before replying.
“...What…what is she like…?” Dabi asked, his whole body tensing up as he started to pick at the bread instead of eating it.
“A pain, but she cares, she wants heroes to take care of themselves…So, don’t be surprised if she checks up on you often if she gives you a treatment plan.” Shouta did his best to soothe the short man’s nerves.
“...ok…I just don’t like doctors…or hospital rooms, reminds me of the street doctor…” Dabi mumbled, it was something he didn’t mention often, if at all other than the brief explanations of when he first woke up.
“...They didn’t hurt you, did they, kid?” Aizawa set his cup down, his full attention on Dabi, who was sinking into himself.
“...other than what was needed to keep me together? No…but I had my jaw wired shut for months so the facial scars could heal…it..it was painful.” Dabi started to anxiously tug on the staples when Shoelace decided to make an appearance and jumped in Dabi’s lap pulling him the self-destructive coping mechanism.
Aizawa was a bit relieved, but he was still concerned, the kid has been through a lot and his scars were obvious proof of that.
Dabi picked up Shoelace and buried his face into the cat’s fur, calming down once again. He then let the cat slink around onto his shoulders and lay around his neck like a scarf. Shouta looked amused again, happy that the fluff ball had such a soothing effect on the scarred man.
“Come on, let’s get the meeting with Recovery Girl over with,” Aizawa stood up leaving his coffee cup on the table. Dabi got up with him, shoving the rest of the grilled sandwich into his mouth before taking the bowl and plate to the kitchen, placing them in the dishwasher.
Shouta pulled on his capture scarf waiting for Dabi at the door, the short man briefly disappearing into his room to pull on shoes. He returned walking over with Shoelace now tucked in his hoodie’s front pocket, and his hood pulled up to hide his face. The cat was peeking out from one side and his tail swishing out of the other side.
“Ready?” Shouta asked, letting Dabi grab one of the ends of his capture scarf, if it comforted the kid, he would allow it. Dabi nodded his head, keeping his head down focusing his gaze on the cat who was purring in content in his pocket.
The underground hero looked at the short man with a soft gaze before directing him out of the apartment. It was still class time so they shouldn’t run into any students on their way to the school’s infirmary, well, that is if there weren't any hero students sent to see Recovery Girl.
The walk there was quiet, and Shouta looked back at Dabi every now and then, the white-haired man just kept his gaze down though.
His blue eyes are dull and distant.
Shouta knew this was going to be difficult for the ex-villain, rehabilitation wasn’t meant to be easy but Shouta was going to be with Dabi every step of the way. He knew the kid had so much potential, and he wouldn’t let the man slip back into villainy.
They soon arrived at Recovery Girl’s office/School Infirmary, the hero gently knocked on the door before opening it after getting ‘Come in!’ from the school’s healer.
Aizawa stepped in with Dabi moving to stand closely behind him, he didn’t comment when Dabi grabbed at his sleeve instead just looked at the short, grey-haired woman. “Recovery Girl…” he greeted.
The older woman looked at the pair leaning on her syringe style cane, smiling softly, “Aizawa,” she greeted before looking solely at Dabi. “And this must be your new charge, nice to meet you, Dabi.”
Dabi slowly peeks out from under his hood, his dull blue eyes meeting her own and she mentally frowned, it was clear that this young man disassociated to protect himself. She gestured for Aizawa to direct Dabi to one of the beds, so she could give him a check-up. Shouta wrapped his arm around Dabi’s shoulder moving him towards the bed next to her desk, the short man let him but still remained quiet.
Recovery Girl grabbed a clean tray of equipment after pulling on some gloves and moved to stand in front of Dabi, who was sitting on the bed. Aizawa sat next to him, continuing to let the young man grip his capture scarf. Shoelace continued to purr loudly which still seemed to help keep Dabi calm.
“Is this just a check-up or?” Recovery Girl asked, looking between the two men, as she continued to organise her equipment.
“...my scars…I deal with chronic pain daily…it’s…moderate today,” Dabi finally spoke, his eyes finally gaining a brief spark of life to them. Recovery Girl let out a thoughtful hum, holding out her hand towards him which Dabi hesitantly set his own hand onto and she carefully inspected the seam between his healthy skin and dead skin. The part of the staples connected to the healthy skin was pulled torque and she could see it was never healing as it was constantly pulled open.
“How far does your scarring go?” She asked him, reaching over to get a cotton swab, dipping it in antiseptic and carefully starting to disinfect around the staples. Dabi didn’t even flinch as she disinfected his wounds, the young man must have a high pain tolerance to deal with the scars and his chronic pains.
“...all the way down, my hands, feet, upper parts of my legs, parts of my torso and small bits of my face are the only parts not scarred, but they are sensitive in their own way…” Dabi replied, watching the pro-hero carefully.
This wasn’t something she could just kiss and he would be healed, he needed completely new skin grafts and it might not even help with the nerve damage he had sustained. She also couldn’t just give him a pile of drugs and send him off, they needed to come up with a Pain Management Plan… Recovery Girl felt for the young man, regardless of what he has done as a Villain, no one should be in agony 24/7.
“Alright, we need to set up a pain management plan and I would like to replace your staples with stitches… the constant pull of the metal is ripping open your healthy skin, and your risk of infection has doubled.” Recovery looked up at Dabi who clearly didn’t like the thought of removing his staples. But he understood where she was coming from and it’s not like he would be using his quirk so there wasn’t a risk of him melting the sutures. “We also need to get a full-body scan of your body, you need new skin grafts…these ones are just making your health worse. It might not help with your pain due to that being nerve damage but, you won’t have to worry about sitting down on something dirty and getting an infection.”
“Also, diet plan, I just needed to take a look at you to see that you're malnourished… Does shortness run in your family?” She asked, already moving on to his other hand.
Dabi swallowed as he slowly took in what the healing hero said, Aizawa gave his arm a squeeze in silent encouragement. “I…I don’t remember anything from before I got these scars…” He mumbled, not meeting Recovery Girl’s eyes.
The nurse looked at him with a frown, “amnesia?” she muttered, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “Maybe Heat stress-induced? We need a scan of your brain too then dear… Usually, we gain a bit of natural defence from our quirks, but you are probably suffering from Debilitating Quirk Disorder. We should get a Quirk specialist to check up on you too..”
Dabi’s shoulders slumped already tired knowing he had a lot of medical treatment in future, alongside his therapy and school work. Shouta shared a look with Recovery Girl, holding the scarred man tightly in his grasp.
“Have a gummy, sweetheart, I think we will be here for a while.” She soothed softly, grabbing a bowl of gummies sweet from her desk holding it towards Dabi, who did take one and ate it. True to her word, they were there for hours during that check-up. He had staples swapped out with sutures and wrapped up in bandages to prevent infection from the disturbance.
Shouta guided a drugged up Dabi out of the infirmary after his check-up was over, he also held a folder full of information for the scarred man to look over when he was back to full awareness. The underground hero also held Dabi’s medicine bag; he had quite an intensive pain management plan.
“...Sho…?” Dabi mumbled as he leaned against the dark-haired man, Shoelace happily napping in his hoodie front pocket.
Shouta looked down at him, the young man’s face covered in bandages but his blue eyes were staring up at him. His gaze was hazy due to the pain relief but he was smiling. “Yeah, kid?”
“...can we get hot soba?” He asked, which just made Shouta snort in amusement and he held the shorter man tighter.
“Sure, Problem Child, sure,” He smiled, gently patting Dabi's white hair, ignoring the student’s passing by them with looks of awe at seeing the usually stoic teacher smile.