Leave Your Mark | Various!BNHA x Reader

64: Promises Kept

Dabi stares down at his phone screen in disbelief. The first-year stage of the Sports Festival just ended, award ceremony and all. He's actually amazed with himself for having stuck with it through the whole thing. The longer he spent watching, the more invested he was forced to (begrudgingly) admit that he was.

But now, it's finally over. For the very first time in his life, he watched one of U.A's Sports Festivals from start to finish.

And he also just watched his younger brother kiss you on the lips.

To be honest, Dabi's still struggling to make sense of it. He feels like he's trapped in some kind of fever dream. It's just so unbelievably ridiculous—to the point that he's convinced the entire world must be a joke.

...it would be nice if that were the case, actually. Wouldn't it be so amazing, if he could snap his fingers and erase all of the pain he endured during his childhood? He could make it so that his family had actually supported him. He could make it so that he was born with a stronger, more resilient body; one that could handle the full extent of his Quirk.

If this world truly was a joke, just a silly, absurd dream, then he could have awakened from it long ago, to a reality in which his father finally acknowledged him.

But no, of course that didn't happen. It will never happen.

Which means this stupid kiss is unfortunately the real deal.

"They really are a bunch of braindead kids," Dabi mutters disappointedly. God, he really wishes he hadn't seen that. It was so cringeworthy he nearly threw up on the spot. Knowing Shouto, it probably wasn't intentional, but... he was trying to kiss you on the cheek, at the bare minimum. Even if it was meant to be a cheek kiss at first, he was really going to do that on live television?

Shameless. Utterly fucking shameless. Not to mention embarrassing. And dumb. And—ugh.

Great. He's cringing all over again.

Dabi lets out a heavy sigh as he pockets his phone. In the end, Shouto ended up winning the entire Sports Festival. That outcome was already bad enough, even without the horrific award ceremony incident. Endeavor's greatest 'masterpiece' fulfilled his duty perfectly, it seems. That old bastard must be overjoyed. He's gotten one step closer to having the Todoroki lineage surpass All Might.

Out of everyone participating, Dabi would only have been somewhat satisfied if you won. He kept hoping you'd somehow one-up Shouto during your battle against him, and for a while, it seemed like you might actually have a chance. He audibly cursed when you were eliminated. It brought a scowl to his face right away.

What's done is done, though. Normally, he's rather good at clinging to the past (it's kind of his whole personality), but it's not like the Sports Festival's outcome will change, no matter how much he wants it to. Plus, you didn't seem all that upset about it. You looked really proud of yourself, actually. You smiled so brightly, with such pride, as you lifted your medal up determinedly. It makes him wonder what goes through your head. Then again, he'd probably never be able to understand.

Unlike him, you continue to face forward, no matter what. You don't allow yourself to be kicked down or discouraged, and even if your smile may waver at times, inevitably, you always manage to reclaim it.

Dabi knows that if he were more like you, life would probably be a hell of a lot more worth living.

Ha.

So stupid. The thought alone makes him shake his head, and suddenly, your accidental kiss with Shouto feels far less cringeworthy by comparison. He's really not sure what he's getting so soft for. It's not like him to cling to sentimentality. He thought he'd already left those days far, far behind him. He thought they'd been buried deep in the past.