Work Text:
He's hiding under his bed. He doesn't know why. He was hiding under there when it first happened, that night his nightmares became real and that thing came for him.
He doesn't know how long it's been, how many years this thing has had his body and destroyed it. He doesn't know why he can't go home anymore. Every time Touya is back in control, it's a terrifying, dreadful experience full of nothing but pain and fear.
Would this thing ever leave? Would it ever let him have his body back, his life back?
"Dabi?" Someone's calling out to him, to the demon , and he covers his mouth with his hand, curls up even more into himself. He's shaking. Father would scream at him and hurt him if he caught Touya behaving so weakly. But Father doesn't live in this place, with these people.
"Dabi?! Goddamn it, where the hell is he?" The voice mumbles, sounding worried and frustrated.
"Think he left again?" Another voice asked.
"I don't know, but I'm not searching through drug dens for him again, it's too late. I'm too tired for this shit."
"Look," there's a moment of silence after and Touya holds his breath. Footsteps walk across the creaky floorboards, closer to where he's hiding under the bed. He squeezes his eyes shut, holds his breath until his lungs burn, and tries to disappear.
"Dabi… what are you doing under there?"
He opens his eyes and long, blueish white hair comes into view, blood red eyes wide in concern, and bleeding scrapes on a pale neck.
He can't speak.
"Dabi?" The man asks again, then sighs, "is it Touya again? Come on out, it's us, you know by now we're not going to hurt you."
He directs him out, and Touya listens because he doesn't really have much choice. They found him. He's right, they've never hurt him the times he had control, they're kind and understanding to him, a bit creeped out but they have never hurt him.
Touya looks around the little room desperately, the other Man, he remembers as being called Sako, notices.
"He needs a pen and paper, he doesn't talk, remember?" The masked man says, walking over to the desk to look through it until he finds scrap paper and a pen, waving Touya over and handing him the pen.
Want to go home.
Where is Natsuo?
"We told you this last time, you can't go home and if you show your face around there you'll be killed. It isn't safe for you." The man with the red eyes, Tomura, he remembers his name being, tells him.
Touya pouts and scribbles again.
It isn't me that's bad and evil.
It's that monster.
It's not my fault.
"Well you and Dabi share your body, and I'm sorry but we can't let you just leave then something happen to the two of you." Tomura says, "look, I know you aren't in control of the things Dabi does, and we know he isn't… isn't human, but I love him and I can't just let him get arrested or killed. He isn't evil, totally, he was trying to help you."
He didn't help me.
He took me from my family.
He did this to my body.
Well his father did too, and so did Doctor Ujiko, but it was also Dabi. He was responsible too, just another person that took advantage of him and used him for their own gains. And it wasn't fair.
"And we know that…" tomura sighs, "he knows that. But he was trying to help you. How long do you have? Do you know?"
Touya shook his head, hands trembling as he began writing again.
He'll be back soon, he's always back soon and then it hurts and I'm always alone in the dark.
I do not want this.
Get him out of me.
"We can't." Sako says, "and I don't believe Dabi can either."
He feels like crying but he can't, not in this ruined body.
It terrifies me.
The two look at the words, then each other, then back at Touya. Slowly, carefully, Tomura takes his wrist with only four fingers and leads him out of the bedroom. "I forget you aren't like Dabi, he would have pulled away by now."
Touya frowns, tilting his head to ask what he means.
"Dabi doesn't like being touched." Tomura explains, "you'll eat, right? You're hungry?"
His stomach aches, empty and starving. He nods.
"Good, can't get Dabi to eat anything but fuckin raw meat and dead rats." The man shivers, then sits Touya down in a little kitchen at the table. He opens the cabinets, "what do you want? We don't have a lot."
His eyes squint to look at the packages and canned goods. After a minute, he points to the sofa.
"Hot or cold?"
He can't answer, looking around for paper. He misses his notebook, wonders of Dabi has one somewhere.
"You really don't talk…" the other sighs, grabbing a small pad of post-its and a pen off the counter, ripping off the list on the first page then hands it over. Touya quickly writes 'hot.'
Tomura nods, getting right to cooking. "You know, I didn't cook for the longest time. Kurogiri cooked for me all my life, then when he was arrested, Sako and you… or Dabi, cooked. Dabi showed me how to cook a few meals."
Touya stared blankly, listening.
"I was kinda like you when I was a kid too, had periods where I just...couldn't talk. It was like my voice didn't work. It's gotten better now, but sometimes it still happens."
Touya took the pen, writing quickly then tapping on the table to get the others attention.
How did you get better?
Tomura stares at the words for a second, idly stirring the pot of food. "I mean, mine was different than yours. I talked, but sometimes I didn't. You… can't seem to talk at all, right?"
Touya nods.
"Thought so." Tomura says, turning again, "Kurogiri helped me a lot when I was young and had one of my episodes. Dabi helps me with it, I guess because he understands because of you. Sensei hated it."
Touya writes then taps on the table with the pen again.
My Father hated it too.
"Your father is a dick, so…" his jaw clenches, looking away to try to hide his angry face, "I hate that bastard. Dabi told me about him, I fucking hate him."
Why do you love Dabi?
He's a monster.
"He's not. I know he's… something paranormal, and he does scare us sometimes, he… he does some unnerving shit, but he's… more human than most people I've ran into. He treats me well, basically worships Shu, ha… he's good to us, no matter what he is. And I know you aren't him and he isn't you, but I care about you too. So does shuichi… sometimes we want to help you, but don't know how… and we don't want to lose Dabi. Dabi's sure if he left your body you'd just drop dead, anyway, so…"
I don't want to be in the dark anymore. I don't want him to lock me away.
Tomura sighs, "yeah… I mean it's your body, dude. He should let you out more… I'll talk to him about it, okay?"
He can feel the heat coming back, the creeping feeling of dread tingling up his spine. The demon is stirring, under the surface, clawing in its sleep. Touya doesn't know when Dabi will wake up, but he's scared. Doesn't want to go back in the dark.
Why do you care about me?
Tomura stares at the paper for a long while, scratches at his neck, "I used to… know a kid like you… a long, long time ago… he's gone now though, but I can see him in you, and by caring about you, I can kind of care about him…"
Who was he?
He swallows, turns back to the meal he was cooking before he whispers, "His name was Tenko."