From hate

      There was a rumble of explosions in the air. Flashes of scarlet and blue flame beat against each other with furious force. Shoto had managed so far to block Dabi's blows. But they were strong, and he didn't know how long he could withstand the onslaught of his flames. Dabi's blue eyes burned with fierce excitement and a desire to destroy. Another blow and Shoto had to block it with ice. The whole difficulty of the battle was that it was taking place in the air. At a fairly decent altitude. Shoto had purposely led Dabi away from any possible witnesses who might have been hurt, as the rules taught at the academy stated. And now the outcome of the battle depended entirely on how much stronger and more stubborn he was than his opponent.       Again a kick to the center of the body, which he missed, starting to weaken. Dabi swiftly sidestepped him, something Shoto was not prepared for. He tried to follow his flame and did not concentrate on his movements. Shoto realized his blunder as he began to approach the ground rapidly. The deafening thud of the impact raised a cloud of dust and construction debris into the air. The ruins of dilapidated houses, the outskirts of the city, were the most suitable place for a battle between hero and villain.       After regaining consciousness from the mild concussion, Shoto slowly began to rise to his feet, staggering slightly. If not for the superpowers that gave his body incredible survivability and accelerated regeneration, he would have been lying on the ground immobile with multiple fractures and unable to move even a finger. Dabi stooped across from him and approached him with a slow, playful gait.       "The fight's not over yet," he said, and when he got close enough, he kicked the center of his opponent's body with a U-turn.       Shoto flew backwards and hit something stone and cold with such force that it rang in his ears. He didn't immediately feel the pain in his shoulder, didn't immediately notice the terrible wound. The boy stared spellbound at the piece of metal rebar sticking out of his shoulder, which pinned him to the remains of the concrete slab like a butterfly to a cardboard needle. Streams of hot blood ran down his tattered, burned clothes. The same hot blood flowed from the corner of his lips. He tried to move, but the pain was so great that he almost fainted. Shoto looked slowly at Dabi, waiting for his next move.       "What an unexpected turn. And I was hoping to play with you some more. The older ones have to play with the younger ones. Isn't that right, little brother," Dabi said with a wry half-smile as he stepped closer and closer to the wounded man.       Shoto kept his eyes on Dabi. It was hard to know his intentions now. During the fight he could clearly feel the lust to kill emanating from him. But now he was calm and relaxed. And the whole situation seemed to amuse him.       "How unpredictable the vicissitudes of fate are. You think you've got me cornered, but you're really the one who's trapped. Or hoping for your daddy's help," he said, clearly expecting an answer from Shoto.       He just stared at him, and now and then his face contorted in a grimace of pain. Dabi came close to him and, taking him roughly by the hair, tilted his head back, forcing him to look into his eyes.       "Understand, all your fluttering is in vain. No matter how hard you heroes try, what you do will bring you no glory and no position in this rotten society. No one will even thank you. And if anything happens. If you ever do something wrong, this bunch of pathetic worms will be happy to blame you, the defenders of goodness and justice, for all your troubles. So what's the point? Come over to our side. We've got cookies," Dabi suddenly cheered.       "No way," said Shoto in a low, weakened voice. He was rapidly losing strength from the great loss of blood. Dabi let him go and took a few steps back.       "Silly little brother. You're afraid of becoming an outcast. You're afraid your so-called friends will turn on you. Believe me, they'll do it if it suits them. And then they'll bow and apologize with a guilty look, blaming it on some circumstance. You can't even imagine how wonderful it is to do whatever you want. You don't have to obey any rules except the ones you set yourself. To take whatever you want from life. To be a hero. Not to be a hero," he said, and jumped on a splintered concrete beam, spreading his arms out to his sides, twirling as if he were dancing, head tilted back and smiling merrily.       Shoto looked at him in bewilderment, and this finally forced him to come to his senses and take action. He tried to grab a piece of rebar sticking out of his shoulder and break it, but the strength he had left wasn't enough. The only thing left was to stop the blood. He concentrated as best he could. Flames erupted from the hole in the wound. There was a sickening hiss and the smell of burning flesh. Shoto groaned faintly in pain.       A moment later, Dabi was beside himself and looked at what he had done.       "Clever boy. Your daddy can be proud of what a smart kid he has," grinned the villain.       Shoto responded with a hateful stare. He could not believe to the end that he was standing in front of him, the one whom Prospector had mourned all these years. Enji was a hero to the core, and all of his children had been brought up in genuine admiration for heroes. None of them would serve evil. And here stands before him a man whose hair is just as cast platinum, whose eyes are filled with pure heavenly azure.       "He can't be Toya," Shoto convinced himself over and over again, ashamed of this kinship. But somehow he knew in his gut that Dabi was his brother after all.       "What's Dad got to do with it," he said angrily.       "Because you and I are both the results of his efforts. We are like two sides of the same coin. You are heads and I am tails. Members of one friendly, loving Todoroki family," Dabi thought aloud.       "Which you betrayed," replied Shoto.       "I'm the one who betrayed the family?! It was your daddy who betrayed me. The one who, ever since he was a boy, had gone out of his way to earn his pride and admiration. He betrayed his own flesh and blood, putting his stupid ambition to surpass the Almighty in this way, at least, since he didn't have the guts. In fact, it was his fault that I became a villain," Dabi said.       "No one forced you to be a villain. It's your own choice," Shoto countered.       "If he loved me and supported me. That wouldn't have happened. I'm sure it wouldn't have happened. Even my mother tried to protect me at first, but then she started living her fears and worries exclusively. She didn't care about her children's feelings. That's probably why no one notices her absence. Because none of you need her as a mother for a long time now. Nice Todoroki family. If I could, I'd rather have been born into another family. I hate her so much," Dabi said with a sigh.       "Me too," Shoto answered confidently, looking him straight in the eye.       Dabi smiled, coming close enough to him.       "How happy to know that your feelings are reciprocated," he said, and his blue eyes sparkled merrily.       "You'll never win," Todoroki Jr. said firmly.       "What disgusting self-confidence," Dabi said, and the next moment his fist was pressing violently into Shoto's solar plexus. The air rushed noisily out of his lungs. And the pain in his wounded shoulder increased. The next blow hit his jaw, and the kid lost consciousness. His body went limp, and if it hadn't been for the rebar sticking out of his shoulder, he would have fallen to the ground.       Dabi looked around. It was as quiet as a graveyard. No one was around. He stepped away from Shoto and walked away, leaving him alone.       "Well, the last part of the Marlezonian ballet," he said as he headed toward the populated part of town.       Dabi walked down a couple of streets. He met only occasional passersby.       "Well, where are these fawning clowns when you need them," he thought with annoyance as he climbed to the roof of the nearest building.       "Hey! Heroes! Here I am! Catch me!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.       He had never been in a more ridiculous position than this.       "Okay, we'll have to make some noise," he thought with a heavy sigh as he lowered himself to the sidewalk and looked around. He moved deeper into the city, where it was livelier. All around were apartment buildings and a few small stores on the first floors of buildings. A blue flame burst into his palm. The next moment a small ball of fire flew into a trash can near one of them. In an instant it was enveloped in scarlet flames, catching fire. Then he picked up several medium-sized stones from the ground and launched them at the storefront. Shards of glass rattled. Customers ran out into the street shouting, "Help!" and "Heroes to the rescue!" As Dabi put his hand up to throw the stone at another storefront, he heard a stern voice behind him.       "Don't move, troublemaker! Surrender or you'll be sorry!"       "Do they learn this pathetic nonsense at the academy?" laughed to himself, Dabi.       "Well, that's fine. I could have blown up half the city in this time, and you're just wandering around in the middle of nowhere!" Dabi sternly reprimanded them. The two tightly built men in tight, bright suits and masks looked at each other perplexed.       "You can't intimidate us! Surrender!" said one of them.       "Yeah. Catch up first," Dabi said, and, showing them his tongue, he dashed off.       "Stop!" the second guardian of good and justice shouted in his wake, offended by the villain's defiant behavior. And the heroes ran after him.       Dabi tried not to get too far away, and turned around to make sure his pursuers were not too far behind. He headed toward the battle with Choteau. Some rather large objects flew after him: a fountain pen the size of a spear, a keychain the size of a car. Apparently, this hero's ability is to make larger objects. These attacks did not reach their targets, as Dabi was moving with sufficient speed. Shoto remained in place near that concrete slab. Dabi ran past him so that the sight of the wounded man would distract them from chasing him. And so it happened. One of the heroes spotted Shoto and headed toward him.       "Hey, kid, you're alive," he said quietly. His partner appeared beside him.       "Are you stuck?" He was angry, but then he noticed the wounded boy. "It's Prospector's son."       He, who was still unconscious, was removed from the rebar and backup was called. After a while an ambulance arrived at the scene. The Prospector appeared next and bent over his son with a worried look. He was loaded into the car and taken away. Prospector looked around cautiously. As if whoever had harmed his son might still be around. He didn't see a silhouette in a black cloak on the half-destroyed roof of one of the buildings. Platinum short hair developed sharp gusts of wind. Dabi, after standing a little longer, walked away. Jumping from one concrete beam to the next, he still couldn't understand what he really wanted with his actions. But he didn't want to think about it now. In any case, Shoto had amused him enough to relieve his boredom.       "You should see your family more often," he thought with a chuckle as he moved farther and farther away.       Waking up in the bright hospital room, Shoto looked around. His wounds were almost healed and almost painless.       "Healing Girl must have tried," he guessed.       The door to his room opened, and Midoriya looked in.       "You're awake already," he said as he entered the room.       "No," said Shoto, rising up on the bed.       "It's good that you're okay. We were really worried. If those heroes hadn't run by, chasing the villain, who knows if they would have saved you in time," Izuku said.       "Stalking the villain," Todoroki thought, and something tingled in his chest.       "Hey, why are you looking so pale? I'll call the doctor," Izuku said excitedly and ran out of the room.       The only name Todoroki could think of when he thought of this villain. Dabi.