Dabi doesn't really know why he's here, outside the place he'd sworn he wouldn't return to. It wasn't like he was convinced his sources were right but then again, he wasn't certain they were wrong either. It was perfectly plausible someone had been snooping around the manor secretly. Someone other than him, of course.

Part of him wanted to believe it was Natsuo who was the hooded person going in and out of the house through the window. He was always the one who was most willing to do bizarre shit with him when they were younger.

Another part of him knew that wasn't the case. Natsu would be old enough now to live at his college dorms if he ever wanted to get away from home. The idea of him sneaking out didn't seem as likely as the other reasons for the recent break ins.

Okay, and maybe he did know why he was here. Sue him! So what if he felt like he's the only one who gets to hurt any of the Todoroki's. He deserves to be the one to take down Endeavor after what he did to him. Some jerk who shows up last minute, sneaking into their home certainly doesn't get that honor. Besides, if this is the famous Revite as he suspects, he wants to meet him. To kill him or to simply warn him to back off from his target. Dabi hadn't decided yet.

Over the past few months he'd been looking out for their articles. It wasn't like he had to search very hard for them. The media couldn't shut up about Revite. His first article had blown up, everyone was talking about it. Debates were sparked bringing in discussions of whether or not Revite was right or wrong in his accusations. Many agreed with him, claiming the hero system was corrupt and broken filled with lies patched over by the commission. Just as many wanted Revite's accusations erased, calling him the real liar.

Revite seemed unmoved by his fame. Then again, he does live behind a computer screen as far as anyone knows.

More recently there'd been rumors of Revite taking to the streets, finding knew ways to obtain information other than just hacking dozens of online platforms. Dabi was almost certain Revite was the one sneaking into his old 'home'. He of all people knew what a false hero Endeavor was, the perfect target for someone like Revite.

Most people would be glad to see there former abuser be targeted by an online user dedicated to outing the corruption of others. Dabi isn't most people. He wants to see the look in his fathers eyes when he kills him. He wants him to die in his fire as he'd tried so many times to do to him, thought he'd done to him. If Revite wanted to get in his way of that, by all means; he just can't guarantee the writer will live.

He respects Revite. He values what he's doing and couldn't agree more with his ideals. Heroes are selfish and fake. They only look out for themselves. It's all about the fame and fortune for them, they've lost the true meaning of their titles.

Dabi doesn't want to kill Revite, but he will if it comes to that.

The sound of a twig snapping in the distance caught his attention. He pulled his left hand out of his pocket, ready to torch whatever made the noise. All that came out of the bush was a squirrel. The nasty thing stared at him with it's beady eyes.

"Piss off," he mumbled to it, glaring. It squealed and darted back into the shrubbery. Dabi rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the Todoroki manor, his hand scratching idly at where his skin met the charred flesh he stapled on.

He wasn't a hundred percent sure Revite would even show up. It was three days ago when he'd received the information from one of his many 'friends' in the shady parts of town that they'd seen someone going in and out of the house. Since then there hadn't been any articles so Revite must not have found what he'd been looking for and surely would return. Dabi just didn't know when.

Or there's always the possibility the hooded figure was just some random robber who was too fucking clueless to realize the house they were robbing belonged to the number two hero. That would be amusing.

Glancing at his watch, he realized he'd been waiting nearly the entire night for someone who didn't even show. He frowned and pull up his hood so it shaded his eyes and forced the zipper to go far enough it his his jaw where the most visible of his scars were. He frowned and started walking away from the house just a the sun was peaking over the horizon. What a waste.

He ignored the side glances people gave him as he made his to the alley he lived in nowadays. When he'd 'died' life seemed easier, even if he was living off stolen ramen packets. It was better than putting up with his lame excuse of a father, trapped in the ruined remains of a family that was never really fully there.

Dabi didn't particularly like taking strolls down memory lane but he couldn't help but have his thoughts wander to the days he'd spent with his blood relatives after just standing outside their house for several hours. He remembered some of the days better than others. The first thing to put pop up in his was his father, his constant disproving gaze.

It was always easier to conjure up the memories of the constant training and agonizing pain his body unfit for his quirk felt. Those sorts of things were the reason why he lives the life he does now. Sometimes he wonders if anyone in his family misses him. Fuyumi might, she always cared so much about everyone. Shouto, on the other hand, surely wouldn't. His youngest brother didn't know him really. Enji made sure he didn't know any of his siblings. His prized creation, perfect in his eyes, wasn't allowed to see their lesser selves.

There were good things about his 'family', they were just far and few between. Not exactly a normal family.

To his left his attention was drawn by a building he hadn't noticed before. He paused mid step, eyeing the closed shutters on the windows and fading paint on the walls. He glanced around him checking for people before trying the door, smiling when it swung open. He smirked. He could use a place to stay for a while.

-:-

On the third night he'd spent watching over the Todoroki Manor, he noticed something strange. He'd been minding his own business, leaning against a tree and picking at the dead skin on his nails, when he'd saw it. A flash in the distance coming from a tree near the side of the house, the one he'd broken his arm falling out of when he was five.

He squinted at the light. It was gone as as fast as it was there, barely visible for a few seconds but Dabi knew he saw it. He isn't that crazy yet. Faintly, he could make out some rustling in the tree and a quiet, barely audible curse.

Pushing off his own tree, he approached the one the light he came from. He kept his hands out of his pockets in case his fire is needed as he got to the base of the tree. He tilted his head, looking up at the branches of the tree. He could see the silhouette of a hooded figure. He smirked to himself. Got you.

"... if I... close to Endeavor... would work." Dabi narrowed his eyes when he picked up his father's hero name in the incoherent muttering. He wondered if the person knew they were muttering. Could this be Revite? Only one way to find out.

He hoisted himself up onto the first branch, glad the figure was too focused on scribbling something down in a notebook to notice him. He frowned and raised his hands. Leaning closer to the person he whispered, "Boo."

"AH MOTHER FUCKER!" The person screeched and tipped sideways off the branch, falling to the ground with an anticlimactic thud. Dabi resisted the urge to snicker to himself before hoping down from his own branch. He look at the the person and- wait. He froze, eyes widening.

The persons hood had fallen off revealing his face as he lay helplessly on the ground. His eyes skimmed over the freckles across his features and big green eyes. That's when it hit him.

Revite is a child.

-:-

Izuku didn't like the odd chill in the air, like something was different that night. For the past five days he's been camping out in a tree outside the Todoroki household, trying his best to figure out a way he can help Endeavor's kids. The tree gave the perfect view into the living room window. He was fairly disappointed that he still hadn't found much out about Endeavor but he couldn't give up yet. He won't give up on the Todoroki's.

That determination is what kept him staying out every night watching over the family. His mother had yet to pick up on his late night outings but the kids at school were all too aware. When he'd fall asleep in class he'd wake up to whiskers drawn his freckles or his hand sitting in a bowl of water (luckily that trick didn't work).

Kacchan had the most fun with his tired behavior. Cornering him became easier and the blonde wasn't about to just let that opportunity slide. It's not that Kacchan hurt him, just harshly interrogated him on what could possibly have him so tired as of late.

The point is, even though he'd been losing sleep over all this, he's never felt off about it like he does now. He glances around the perimeter of the manor. Upon seeing nothing he returns his focus to the window. Nothing interesting was going on inside. Fuyumi, he thinks that's her name, is sitting on one of the couches, a book in hand. From what he could tell, she's the calmest of the Todoroki's.

Izuku leaned back against the tree trunk, sighing. This was proving to be harder than any other of his adventures. He raised his eyes to stare at the stars through he tree's. Wondering what his mom was doing at home right now, he closed his eyes. He heard a ding and flinched. Shit. 

His eyes snapped open to see his phone light up with a notification from one of the many papers he follows. He cursed under his breath and scrambled to turn it off. Frantically, he looked around to see if anyone had seen the light. He relaxed when he didn't catch any movement from inside or outside the house. 

Returning his gaze back to the Todoroki household, he caught sight of Endeavor. He smiled and pulled his pencil was tucked behind his ear and started scribbling in his notebook. The pro hero was standing in the middle of the room, hands on his hips and seemed to be talking sternly to Fuyumi. Izuku wished he had a hearing quirk. 

An idea struck him, eyes widening. Wait. He doesn't need a hearing quirk. He just has to be close enough to Endeavor to know what he's saying. Doing things the way he is right now won't get him much farther in his discoveries but if he was able to get some inside scope he could learn so much more. Second hand information of course isn't reliable so he'd have to do it himself. If I can get close to Endeavor this might work, he thought. But how?

Wait. That was it! He started to scribble down his thoughts into his notebook. All he had to do was-

"Boo."

"AH MOTHER FUCKER!" He yelped at the sound of a deep unfamiliar voice right in his ear. The next thing he knew he was falling out of the tree and landing on the ground with a pained thump. He groaned, wincing at the pain flaring in his back. He tried to move and immediately regretted it. Bad idea. Very bad idea. 

He heard the sound of someone landing on their feet next to him. No no no. Begone. Please just leave him alone and pretend he wasn't spying on the number two hero. 

Forcing himself to open his eyes, he looked up at the person standing over him. It was hard to make out most of their appearance in the dark but Izuku straight away noticed the person's squinting blue eyes that seemed to stare into his soul. He was slightly intimidated by the black jacket draped across his shoulders and what seemed to be a dark mask on his chin. 

"Uh, h-hi?" he stuttered out. 

The person took a step back, a shocked look dawning on their features. "What the fuck," he muttered. "What the actual fuck. You're a child!?"

Izuku frowned and tried to push himself up into a sitting position but the mans boot collided with his shoulder and forced him back into laying flat on his back. Okay, what was going on? His head felt dizzy, probably from falling out of the tree, and his eyes kept trying to search the man for some sort of security emblem. Every time he came up short. If he wasn't security what was he and what was he going on about?

"How are you a child?" The man asked, running his hands through his black hair. 

Izuku turned his head to the side. "B-because I wasn't born over eighteen years ago?"

It wasn't until after he said it that he realized that wasn't the best thing he could have said to the person pinning him to the ground looking like he could kill him any second. 

"You're crazy," the man said. He kicked at his chin with his foot forcing Izuku to meet his eyes. "Maybe I should clarify. How is Revite a child?"

Oh. 

OH! That was what he was talking about? How'd he know? Izuku could have sworn he'd turned off all ways someone would be able to trace him back to being Revite. Even if someone figured out his identity, how would they know he'd be here spying on Endeavor. 

He felt his nerves started to spike and he tried to take a deep breath to clam them down. Come on, stay calm, he told himself. Play dumb or something. 

"I h-have no idea what you're talking about." Okay, maybe he sucked at playing dumb. 

"You're not fooling me, kid," the man commented and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him to his feet before slamming him into the tree. His hand lit on fire, blue flames dancing on his fingertips. Izuku marveled at the sight. Now with the light of the fire he could make out the mans face and he couldn't stifle his gasp. What he thought was a mask was in fact a massive burn scar across his jaw, chin and neck. He noticed the scars were under his eyes too, like permanent eye bags held there with what seemed to be staples of some sort. The man held his lit hand near Izuku's face. "Start talking or I'm going to be washing the smell of burnt flesh out of this jacket for days."

Izuku gulped. If he could avoid being killed that'd be ideal. "W-what do you want?"

"I've only asked a million times." The man rolled his eyes. "How is a child like you Revite?"

Good question. He didn't really know himself. "I don't know, it just sort of happened!"

Scar face groaned and released him. He started pacing in circles and Izuku watching in confusion. He got that it was surprising, to be honest it still shocks him when he hears one of his classmates talk about his newest article. What he didn't understand was why it mattered so much to this man. 

"I have to kill a child, just peachy," he heard him mumble to himself. Kill? No thanks. He didn't quite want to die today. 

Izuku started to shuffle around the tree, slowly stepping backwards. He glanced behind him, glad for the forest that would be easy to hide in if he could just get away from Mr Scar man. He retreated, making his steps as quiet as possible while the man continued his pacing. He felt a swell of pride as he got a little deeper into the woods, nearly far enough to start running. 

"Where do you think you're going? We're not done here."

So much for that plan. 

Izuku faced the man. "How did you know I was Revite?"

Scar face leveled his gaze. "Why are you spying on Endeavor?"

"I asked you first."

"And I'm threatening to kill you."

Fair. Izuku frowned and looked to the ground. "Endeavor isn't areal hero. I know it. I... he might be abusing his family and I can't stand to just sit by and watch. He needs to be stopped, his kids need to be safe."

Scar face stared at him. Izuku didn't like the deafening silence that was filling his ears. Why wasn't he saying anything. He looked at the mans face, his expression blank and concealed. It felt like the silence dragged on far too long before the man spoke up again. 

"What happens to the Todoroki's is none of your business." He said, eyes blazing like the flames from his hand had traveled to his irises. 

"It's a heroes job to meddle where it's not there business," he argued. 

The man scoffed and shook his head. "You're not a hero kid. You're a child who hides behind a computer screen exposing heroes, not trying to save their families."

Something boiled inside Izuku. He was right. He isn't a hero. Not yet but someday and he'll get there by doing what he'd doing now. His fists clenched at his sides and lifted his chin, his nerves from before gone replaced with determination. "I won't give just because you tell me to," he said. "I ask again, how did you know I was Revite?"

"I have my sources, none of which you need to know." The man walked towards him so Izuku was close enough to feel the heat of the blue flames on his skin, raising the hair on his arms. "Stay away from the Todoroki's and I'll let you live." 

The flame in his hand snuffed out and the man turned, walking into the shadows of the surrounding trees. He glanced over his shoulder, looking at Izuku who was frozen in place. His blue eyes shined. "If I catch you here again, you're dead."

Then he was gone. 

Izuku stared at the now empty spot in front of him and that's when it hit him. He'd taken his notebook. 

Fuck.