chapter forty-two;

━━━━━━ "T-THE KANABŌS ARE FINISHED being produced and have been distributed to the onis", kenji—the daimyo tengu—informed.

     "good work. as a reward, I'll make sure you and suzuki's wedding will be beyond magnificent", kisa promised as kenji just nodded.

     despite originally hating the date that kisa had setup, kenji actually found himself really loving the yuki onna. it was to the point that he had stopped flirting with other women, which was a plus.

"is there anything else I may assist your highness with?", kenji asked, as he was still kneeling on one leg.

"if you know what's good for you, you'd have your clan support me when I ascend the throne", kisa stated, to which kenji had nearly choked.

"o-of course your highness! b-but you're not thinking of rebelling or anything like that are you?", kenji awkwardly laughed, to which kisa's straight face had informed him that he had hit the nail on that one.

     "when I become the empress, you and the others will become kings and queens of the lands that I assign you all. perhaps...you're not satisfied?", kisa asked, the corner of her lips turning down to a slight frown.

     "n-n-no! that's not it your highness. it'll be plenty. thank you for the consideration. and regarding the wedding...suzuki and I are honestly very thankful for your support", kenji slightly smiled as kisa just nodded, dismissing the tengu.

     kisa sighed as she watched the yōkai leave, to which inasa had hastily exited from behind the screen as he took a seat beside the girl.

"something the matter?", inasa asked, holding kisa's hands as he allowed her to lean her head on his shoulder.

"I'm worried about dabi and shōto", kisa honestly answered, to which the male wasn't exactly surprised, as dabi didn't exactly seem very friendly with the half-and-half boy.

"worst case scenario the half boy says no", inasa stated, to which kisa had shook her head.

     "if he says no, then we'd have to face him in the future. he is a hero after all", kisa sighed.

     "so? he's just another one to take down".

     "his quirk is quite the useful one. and if he's on our side, then there's a good chance that bakugo will be too".

     inasa raised a brow. "you don't mean to tell me that those two are..."

     kisa sat up as she observed the confused expression on the dark-haired male's face, making her let out a chuckle.

     "they've probably been dating for a while now. otherwise, why else would he have stayed with him here for so long?"

     "I thought they were just close friends...", inasa muttered, to which kisa thought that it could've been the case if it weren't for her witnessing bakugo aggressively snatching a bag from todoroki just so he could discreetly hold his hand.

"well..."

kisa decided to move on from the topic instead. "I just think that dabi would much prefer using shōto than killing him. I have a feeling that if he succeeded in the murder, he'd be fueling with regret later on".

inasa glanced over at the slightly dazed girl, who had seemed quite stressed.

"with your intricate planning, everything will turn out perfect", the male assured as he leaned the side of his face against the girl's head.

kisa just smiled. "if only it was that easy".

━━━━━━ • ✿ • ━━━━━━

"why won't kisa see me?", todoroki questioned, to which dabi just scoffed as he crossed his legs, leaning his head against the palm of his hand.

"just because you want to see her doesn't mean you can", dabi snarled, glaring at todoroki meanwhile he just stood there confused as to why the male was so hostile for no reason.

     "but she promised m—"

     "and you're getting an answer right now", dabi interrupted, to which todoroki was slightly taken aback.

     "she told you..."

     "she didn't have to. take a lucky guess as to who I am", dabi said with a bored tone.

     "dabi".

     a seething noise came out of the scarred male's mouth, as he wondered how dense his younger brother could be.

     "I'm todoroki touya", dabi bluntly said, to which he could see the hesitance in the stoic boy's heterochromia eyes.

     "where's the proof?"

     "the fact that I combusted into blue flames that night and ran away; the fact that I tried to kill you while you were still a toddler because you stole all the attention from me! is that enough proof?! todoroki shōto".

the boy's eyes widened as he stumbled back a few steps, suddenly recognizing the turquoise eyes that matched his left one.

"you're...no...your face..."

dabi uncrossed his legs as he started grinning like a madman. standing up, he shoved his hands in his pockets as he sauntered over to the other todoroki.

"like my new look? took me a while to finish", dabi grinned, clearly referring to his hair dye and staples, but perhaps mostly his change in attitude.

     todoroki's breath hitched as he didn't know what to say, just as kisa had warned him that one time he had begged her to reveal touya's residence.

     and now that he was truly here, right in front of him, he had no idea what to do.

     dabi went back to his seat as his smirk dropped into a frown, clearly not pleased by the frozen reaction.

     he had partially expected the boy to lash out, or even yell at him and question where he has been, but none of that happened.

in fact, quite the opposite did.

"why's that you're showing up now?"

dabi internally cursed him out. it wasn't like he wanted to reveal his identity so soon, but for kisa, he was damn willing to do so.

'make him get on your side. make him remember why he hates endeavor. get him to sympathize with you even though I know you don't need it.

just get him to kill endeavor with you...and if all else fails, bring up our lovely mother.

     I'm sure that'll trigger a response', was what kisa had told dabi.

     "I ran away because I needed to get stronger. I needed to beat...father...not to only prove my strength, but to show that he picked the wrong son", dabi started, clenching his fists in the process.

     "however, it seems that I've been projecting my hatred onto the wrong person.

     I shouldn't have hated you just because he valued you. he's the one to blame for all this. for...for our family's downfall", dabi muttered, to which todoroki was baffled at the villain's words.

     "you didn't choose to be born with that double quirk of yours, and neither did you choose to train. him and his abuse ways...even affected mom".

     todoroki stiffened at the mention of their mother, to which dabi's sharp eyes had not missed the desired reaction.

     it was exactly what kisa had suspected.

     "if it weren't for him, she wouldn't still be at the hospital right now".

"you've seen her?"

"that's doesn't matter right now", dabi growled, calming down before he ruins it.

"what I'm trying to get at is that I need your help", dabi said, making todoroki utterly unsure of how to react.

"I need your help to wipe away the so-called heroes like endeavor, who abused his family until they've fallen apart like crumbs.

you get it, don't you?"

todoroki hesitantly nodded as he stared down at the majestic carpet that was beneath his feet. hearing footsteps approach him, he suddenly looked up to see dabi with a neutral expression.

hovering his hand above todoroki's head, dabi gently ruffled his dual colored hair.

"you'll join me won't you, little brother?"

todoroki's lips pursed into a thin line as he watched dabi retreat from the room, telling him to consider it for a few days.

as the doors to the room closed, dabi's face immediately contorted into disgust, feeling the warmth lingering on the hand that he used to pat todoroki with.

'fuck! I'm never doing that shit again. if it weren't for kisa, I would've burned him down to the depths of hell!'