Resurrected & Reignited (Dabi/Touya Todoroki x Reader) [REUPLOAD]

Flashback I: Merry Band of Misfits

Approximately 13 years ago...

The sound of your soft sniffling echoed down the dark corridor as you crept through the halls of the HPSC training facility. You weren't supposed to be out of bed, of course, but the day's training regime left you feeling restless. The light from the tiny portable snail-lamp in your outstretched hand illuminated the hallway a few feet ahead of you, making the darkness of the unlit areas appear all the more black. Your muscles ached every time you moved, but that didn't stop you from tiptoeing out of your room. Somehow, you had managed to make your way up to the top floors without being spotted. You wiped the tears from your cheek sheepishly as you took in the state of this area.

Most of this part of the building was still intact; however, occasional gaps in the ceiling panels allowed you to catch a glimpse of the structure between you and the floor above. It was only about a month ago that the upper floors had been severely damaged when one of the program kids' quirks had gone haywire during class. You were told that, because the structural integrity had been compromised, this area, and the floors below it, were completely off-limits. That is, of course, if you got caught. You had overheard a few of the others talking about how they had snuck out one night and dared each other to go as far as they could into the lightless, spine-chilling wing. It was stupid, you had thought at first, but their game gave you a hopeful idea. If they came up here and didn't get caught, perhaps you could, too. You weren't sure what compelled you to do it. You had only been with the program for about two months and weren't exactly close with any of the other children. You hadn't told anyone about what you were doing or where you were going; rather, you were struck with the sudden urge to explore the abandoned place. Though you hadn't seen the other kids when they played their little game, you were fairly certain none of them had gotten this far before.

You held your shining palm-sized snail friend higher to examine an area of the crumbled ceiling. A lone security camera sat directly in the center. You gasped, fearful that it had caught you sneaking about, and quickly pinned yourself against the wall and covered your light in a futile attempt to hide. How many of those had you passed on the way here? You stood there for a moment in pitch darkness, nervous that you might soon hear the footsteps of one of the overseers stomping down the hall to get you. No such sound came, though. After a few minutes, you hesitantly lifted your hand from your nightlight. You squinted to inspect the camera as the light stretched towards it. The red power light was missing. You breathed a sigh of relief. They must have cut power to the whole wing.

Now that you knew you weren't being watched, you wondered what might be on the level above you. It was the floor where the quirk incident had taken place. You'd heard that the classroom it had happened in was completely blown away, but that was just a rumor. How could you get up there to see? The stairway up there had been destroyed and with no electricity, the elevators were out of commission as well.

'I could probably do it if I could fly...' You thought disappointedly.

You continued slowly down the hall. More tears formed in your eyes and you had to admit, the darkness was beginning to spook you. With the exception of the occasional loose ceiling tile, bit of concrete, and yourself, the corridor was empty, so it was a surprise when you came across a small pile of classroom desks just strewn across the floor. As you glanced up, you noticed a sizable hole in the roof above you.

'That must be the classroom!'

You dried your eyes once again and ventured closer to the damaged area for a better look. You lifted your glowing gastropod as high as you could; however, you could only see the internal structure of the classroom wall from your vantage point. As you stared upwards, a faint clank came from down the hall. A sudden rush of adrenaline flooded your system and your head shot towards the noise. At the end of the unlit passage, a small ball of light bobbed up and down, then side to side as if searching for something.