ATOMIC STRUGGLE

7「brother」0

(Welcome back everyone, it's the end of the month, so here's an update! Comment goal is 21, so good luck and happy reading!)

"Were you expecting someone?" Giran questioned with a furrow of his eyebrows, causing Izak to shake his head as he stood to go see who it was. When he opened the door, there stood someone he recognized from a few weeks back.

"Hey."

"Hey, Dabi right?" Izak tilted his head as Dabi smirked lazily at him. He looked the same as the last time he saw him, except for the fact that his naturally white hair had been dyed black once again.

"Yeah, just came by to see how things were. Busy?" The electric blue eyes slid past him towards the living room. The maroonette shrugged.

"Not really. Did you want to come in?" Izak stepped aside, knowing from the molecules that Dabi had come here with the intent to stay for longer than just a brief chat.

"Sure, thanks," The flame user came inside, taking off his shoes and making his way into the living room. When he saw who was there, he deadpanned. "What is this, a party?"

"Dabi!" Giran's eyebrows shot up. "I didn't realize you were still in contact with Izak."

"Well," Dabi's gaze moved over the room, taking note of the decor and the other people. "How could I not be when he is the way he is?"

"I am the way I am?" Izak repeated in confusion, causing Dabi's smirk to appear again as he hummed.

"Don't wory about it."

"Fine. Anyway, that reminded me, Giran," The teen turned his attention to the broker. "Could you get in contact with Twice for me? I told Miho that we'd have a power puff girls marathon in a few weeks and she wanted him to come."

"Is that so?" Giran's eyes sparkled. "I'll call him as soon as I get back to the office! Ah, but may I also come to the marathon?"

"I'm not sure why you'd want to, but sure," Izak agreed, then glanced at his other guests. "If you guys are free, you can come too. Miho does want everyone to dress up, though, so," He grimaced slightly. "Keep that in mind."

"I would be honored to attend!" Compress exclaimed, rubbing his hands together excitedly. "My my, how long as it been since I've been able to put on a show?"

"...I'll think about it," Spinner muttered, not looking too keen on the idea, but Izak could tell that he was pondering it solely based on the fact that he had eaten almost all of the snacks that the maroonette had left out, and they were so good to the gecko that maybe coming for a kid show marathon would be worth it for another taste.

"I'll be sure to stop by," Dabi said before crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.

"You can sit down, you know," Izak gave him a look.

"It's fine," He drawled for a moment, his eyes closing for that moment before opening with a newfound sharpness. "I was hoping to talk with you alone, so," Dabi stared at the other guests. "Why don't you all get lost?"

"You're worse than your brother was," Izak grumbled as he ran a hand through his hair, causing the flame user to stiffen and his eyes to narrow at the maroonette.

"What?"

"Huh?" Izak blinked, realizing he had said it out loud. "Oh, sorry, that just came out."

"Get out," Dabi's stare turned into a glare as he pushed off the wall, directing his eyes at Spinner, Compress and Giran.

"How rude," Compress huffed, situating his mask back over his face as he stood up.

"The hell is your problem?" Spinner deadpanned at the flame wielder.

"It was about time that I got back," Giran chose the non-confrontational approach, standing up and heading over to Izak. "Thanks again for having us over. I'll be sure to contact Bubaigawara when I get back," He promised, holding his hand out for a handshake. Izak gave it.

"Thank you, then I'll see you next time."

"Come along, Mister Compress, Spinner," Giran waved them over, causing both to glance at each other before going after the broker, making sure to give the head of the household a nod. Soon, the three guests were gone, and all that was left was Izak and Dabi.

"So you know," Were the first words out of Dabi's mouth, causing the maroonette to shrug.

"It's kind of hard not to. Like I told you last time," He sighed. "My quirk is atom-related, and it's kind of hard not to notice that you're a Todoroki when your younger brother is one of my classmates," He summarized. "But don't worry, I'm not going to do anything to get you discovered or anything unless you ask me to."

"Ha, yeah no thanks," Dabi huffed as he plopped down on the other couch. "But this makes it easier. Go ahead and call me my given name when we're in private, otherwise you should call me Dabi when with other people."

"Sure," Izak complied. "So what else did you want to talk about?"

"I'm just curious," Dabi said. "Why'd you bring up Shouto?"

"The way you were acting," the teen answered. "Reminded me of him a while back. He was a hostile self centered jerk before I knocked some sense into him," He said, causing the flame wielder to exhale sharply.

"That so? So you think I was acting hostile and self centered?"

"Weren't you?" Izak replied. "You looked like you were going to hurt them if they didn't do as you said, making you both hostile and self centered in that moment."

"Hmph, fine then," Dabi let his head fall back as he relaxed into the couch. There was a smile tugging at his lips but he wasn't sure why, so he didn't let it stay there long. Instead, he got serious and leaned forward, asserting eye contact with Izak, who looked back at him boredly. "Izak," He addressed. "Why are you a hero?"

"Because the government told me to be one," He said, and Dabi's eyes flared. The fuck? "Giran doesn't know this, but I was born and raised in a lab that specialized in wanting to create powerful quirks, basically breeding a superhuman army. A special ops squad destroyed the place and arrested all the doctors. The other experiments were all put in the system, but I wasn't exactly stable, so when I was put in an orphanage," A smirk crossed the maroonette's face. "I massacred everyone there because they were annoying."

Dabi almost laughed, but held himself back as Izak continued.

"It was then that the government realized that I was too powerful, and that I was a walking disaster because I didn't have anything like morals, at least not ones that were in line with the laws. So, they shipped me off here to Japan to be put in the UA hero course and be monitored by Eraserhead so that he could take my quirk away whenever the need arose. I'm supposed to be learning right from wrong and the value of other human beings, but honestly," He sighed, glancing towards the window. "I still couldn't care less about others. Well," A smile appeared on the teen's face. "I suppose I do care about some people, but I'm pretty sure that's not what the government really intended to get out of this."

"So that's how it is," Dabi smirked. "That's pretty fucked up."

Izak exhaled, shrugging slightly. "Maybe, but I don't really care as long as I can eat and live well. It's a bit of a pain to not use my quirk a lot, though," He muttered, and a spark flashed through the flame wielder's eyes. Don't worry Izak, he thought to himself as he watched the maroonette, you may be content now, but I'll show you that you don't have to settle for the shitty hand you've been dealt.