The Phantom of the Opera • Dabi x Reader/Hawks x Reader

9. Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again

Paris, 1873

When Tomura finished telling Keigo about the Phantom's past, Keigo thought he might be sick. For as long as he had known the Todoroki family, he didn't truly know Touya. He knew of Touya, but a tuft of white hair and a constant serious look on his face was all he could recall about the boy. He and Enji were always training when Keigo's family paid the Todorokis a visit, and the boys barely ever said hello to each other. He vividly remembered how broken the family was after his death. He was twelve when it happened. The Todoroki family stayed at the Takami's manor as their own was being rebuilt. He had never experienced a major death in his life before.

"Mother, why won't Natsuo play with me? Why does Mrs. Todoroki always run out of the room when I come in?"

"They're grieving, dear. Leave them be."

Keigo didn't know that his thirteenth birthday fell just shy of a month before Touya's would have been, and that the fact that he got to celebrate becoming a young man when her baby would never get to nearly sent Rei to the asylum again. He didn't know that Touya's death was why Enji took on training him in swordsmanship immediately following their arrival. He didn't know that he was acting as both a painful reminder and pseudo-replacement for their dead son.

"Does Elle know?" Keigo asked.

Tomura was about to answer when he heard some very loud shuffling and shushing right outside the door. He sighed. His fiancee and little sister were both so nosy.

"She does now," he sighed. He opened the door, and both Elle and Rumi fell to the floor as it opened. "I expected better from you both."

Both women glared up at Tomura. Rumi shot up and pointed in his face.

"You expected better? You've known for a decade who the Phantom was, and you didn't bother to tell anyone? Not even the Todoroki family themselves?" she fumed.

"I was sworn to secrecy!" he defended himself.

"To Hell with secrets! We have to tell everyone at once!" she said. She began to walk out of the room, but Tomura grabbed her wrist and pulled her further inside. He told Elle to come in too, and then he locked the door. Rumi was fuming, her face was dark and her eyes were nothing more than slits as she attempted to murder her fiance with her stare.

"I don't think you understand the delicacy of the situation here," he said, his grip still tight on her wrist. She yanked her arm away from him as he continued. "The Phantom is dangerous. He's killed before, and he will not hesitate to do so again and again until he has his way. Did you not hear him threaten to burn this place down if his orders are not followed? Do you think revealing his identity will lighten up the situation at all? We need to formulate a real plan if we want to stop him and keep everyone alive."

Rumi's glare softened into a frustrated scowl. She hated being wrong.

"Fine, but I'm still angry with you for lying," she huffed.

Tomura sighed. He knew that if he didn't try to fix this now, he would never live it down and it would come up in an argument years down the line. He grabbed her hands and rubbed his thumbs along the backs of them. "What can I do to regain your trust and affections?" he asked as he pulled her hands up to his lips and kissed her knuckles

Keigo and Elle both watched as Rumi smiled wickedly and leaned up against Tomura's ear and whispered something that made his cheeks glow bright red. Elle rolled her eyes, Keigo just looked confused. Tomura visibly swallowed and went to unlock the door, then pointed at Keigo and Elle.

"Both of you get out."

Keigo looked at Tomura's red face, then at the dark, hungry look in Rumi's eyes, and then back at Tomura. He gave both of them a pained expression. "Is this really the time for—"