D. A. B. I. [COUNT TO TEN FICVERSE]

Prologue

There are two sides to every coin. There are two halves of every whole. There is an opposite to everything. An up to every down. A right to every left. A villain to every superhero. A good to every bad. A right to every wrong. Shouto just so happened to be both of every side. He was the coin itself. He was hot and he was cold. Half red and half white. Unable to make a decision. In the middle of everything. The crime and the punishment; people had always hated this. His hair was the most wretched thing about him. People made that quite clear. Why wasn't it just one color or just the other? Why was it half white and half red? Shouto didn't have the answer. The answer would mean going into quirks. Only a select few knew about those. 

Shouto didn't like his hair. His hair reminded him of the two things that he wasn't. The one thing that he was. He'd tried many times to turn the white portion to red. This wasn't because the red part of his hair was his favorite. No, there were two different reasons. The first being that red is the more natural color of the two. Sure, no one has this type of red, but red itself is a natural hair color. White is harder to pass off. Not many people dye their hair white. The second reason being that he simply thought changing white to red would be easier and less damaging than changing red to white. Bleaching red scared him. There was no guarantee that the white would be the same shade either. 

So, as he stared in the mirror of his bathroom, he sighed. There was a scar over his eye on the red portion. He didn't like looking at it. Looking at it reminded him of the thing he never wanted to be: his father. Shouto had just finished applying his makeup so that he wouldn't have to look at it. Makeup to cover the single scar, in order to hide his internal ones. It was easier to distance himself from it when he didn't have to stare at it. That's what he thought, anyway. 

His mother was a kind woman. He had nothing against her personally. All of the anger he felt he pushed to his left half. Anger towards his father and no one else. Shouto was a calm person. A calm person that wished to be one person. Just ice. Just fire. But, he was cursed with both. Genes from his mother. Genes from his father. Even if he hated his father with all of his existence, he still carried his blood. There was no changing that. One day he would come to terms with it. Today was not that day. Today was nothing close to that day. 

He exited the bathroom. He sat at his desk. He opened the file on Izuku Midoriya. This was his new patient. He had something of a double personality. Shouto didn't like to call it split, to him, it didn't seem split, just two different people hiding in the same body. It was something he could relate to. He didn't have a split personality. He had a double one. Well, calling it a 'personality' was extreme. Shouto put all of his rage-filled emotions into a box. He labeled that box with a sticker and called it 'Scar.' Scar wasn't a person hiding in his body, he was a label for the times when Shouto couldn't control his emotions. Scar hadn't shown up in a while. Hopefully, he wouldn't show up again. As long as Shouto had control...

In any case, there were similarities between Deku and Izuku. There were differences as well. Isn't that true of everyone though? The one notable detail was that Deku was more emotional, filled with rage, and Izuku was more...anxious? This sounded familiar. 

"Father must think me to be a fool," Shouto sighed. He rested his head on the desk. "Does he think because I have had a similar issue that I somehow know the cure? Does he think because my quirk is half and half that I will understand someone who is half and half? What is he planning?" Shouto stared at the picture of Izuku Midoriya. He didn't look like a dangerous criminal. He just appeared to be a nervous male. Things aren't always as they seem. Shouto knew that. 

"Shouto!~" his brother said. The door opened and Touya walked right over to provide Shouto with a much-unwanted hug. He told him many times that humans required at least seven hugs per day with about thirty-second duration. Shouto didn't believe an ounce of it. However, Touya seemed like he needed the hugs more than he did. So, he allowed it. 

He couldn't help but notice the bandages on Touya's wrist. Shouto was observant like that. He noticed small details. "How did your arm get injured?"

The thirty-second hug ended in about five seconds due to this question. Touya pulled down his sleeve, hiding his wrist, but the action didn't reflect on his face. He was still as carefree as always. "Would you believe me if I told you that I fell down the stairs?" Touya stood up straight, reaching out to poke Shouto's nose. 

"I wouldn't believe a word."

"It's nothing for you to worry about, dearest brother," Touya smiled, a not-so-reassuring grin. Touya was always like this. He expected Shouto to tell him everything but then never once said a thing to Shouto. Was Shouto not a reliable younger brother? Perhaps Touya just had too much 'adult' business to worry about. That's what he said, anyway, but the two weren't that far apart in years. Shouto was just as much of an adult as Touya. 

Touya placed his hand on Shouto's head. He ruffled his hair, as he so often did, and laughed it off. As if his pain was something trivial. "At least let me look at the wound," Shouto reached out to grab Touya's arm. Touya pulled it back. 

"Don't worry about it, okay? I'll be fine. I'm always fine," Touya said. He looked down at the file on Shouto's desk. "Izuku Midoriya, hm? The dangerous one. I remember him. So, you're the lucky doctor? I thought for sure father was going to make me handle this one." 

Shouto frowned. "I don't like the way you 'handle' patients. They're people. They deserved to be treated as such." 

"Yes, yes, I know exactly how you feel, Shouto," Touya nodded. "Sometimes," he paused, the carefree attitude he always had dropped for a moment. Shouto saw longing, fear, and a third emotion he couldn't quite place. "I wish I could be a doctor like you but we don't always get what we wish for, isn't that right?" Carefree attitude returned.

"It's father, isn't it?" Shouto regretted asking the question. Touya looked afraid, just for a moment, but like usual...he didn't tell Shouto any of his worries. 

"Good luck with your new patient," Touya waved and left him alone. The door closed. The file still there. Shouto hadn't a clue about what to do. He looked through books. He searched the internet. No ideas came to him. 

"Should I make him make a list?" Shouto pondered the three a.m. idea. "Maybe that'll work?" In any case, it was time for him to sleep.