Chapter Text
Shouto ran from room to room, gathering items like a squirrel gathering nuts. He was all over the place, a bag on each arm, one even around his neck. Things could be heard being shuffled around, frustrated grunts and quiet cheers of success.
“Snacks, wipes, pull-ups, extra set of clothes - hmmm. Where is that Gang Orca?”
Wandering around Reiji’s room, Shouto sought out the small plush toy his son couldn’t go anywhere without. When he finally found it he checked all the bags he had over again, Gang Orca’s fin hanging between his teeth. Each bag had what it needed - all three of them.
Today was the hero’s day to keep Reiji on his own. He was off of work and Fuyumi dragged you off to go have a girls day together. At first you felt bad about leaving Shouto with Reiji on his own. Shouto was a great father of course, he was amazing! He … was just clueless sometimes. Maybe a little overprepared and anal here and there. But nonetheless those quirky little things made Shouto an absolutely perfect father!
Reiji was loved so much by his father and that was all that mattered.
After Shouto was satisfied with the bags he packed, he stood in the hallway thinking to himself. It felt like he was missing something - something important.
“Oh yeah - the kid!”
Shouto walked about your shared home looking around for that little mop of red hair. When he heard a familiar giggle and squeal, Shouto smiled and made his way to the playroom. With Gang Orca in hand, the hero poked his head into the room.
“Time to go to the dent - what the hell!”
Another giggle sounded off, along with a familiar chuckle and before Shouto knew it, his son was waving him goodbye while being bounced in heavily burned arms - right out the fucking window!
“Bye-bye daddy!” Reiji smiled.
Shouto narrowed his eyes and quickly ran to the window seal, ice shooting from his palm and out to encase the kidnappers feet.
“Dabi what the fu - fudge do you think you’re doing with my kid?”
The villain turned what he could of his body around to face Shouto and shrugged.
“What kid?”
Reiji, now happily sitting on Dabi’s shoulders, continued to giggle just before sneezing into the mans black hair. Dabi cringed and gently pinched a chubby leg.
“Oh this kid - uh, I was bored and decided to take him to the zoo.”
Shouto barked out a sarcastic laugh.
“We’ve already discussed this, you can’t just take my kid whenever you’re bored! And stop breaking in, just knock on the front door like a regular person please?”
Dabi grinned and waited for Shouto to shuck off the bags from his body and to jump out of the window to go over and unfreeze him.
“I gotta keep up my reputation somehow Shouto, I’m still a criminal,” he replied while removing Reiji from his shoulders and holding him in the air to airplane him around the area where they stood, “Even if I do play Mrs.Doubtfire for your ass here and there.”
Shouto shook his head, casually playing along with the two and tickling his son when Dabi would playfully lunge Reiji in his direction.
“Okay - so let me ask you this then. How exactly did you expect to successfully take my son to the zoo - Mr. Criminal who is very recognizable?”
At this Dabi stopped, Reiji being held upside down by his little ankles and giggling.
“So I didn’t think that far - thinking isn’t usually my part of the job. Now let me ask you a question. Why the fuck do you need three bags - you’re going to the dentist, not on vacation!”
Shouto shrugged now, holding Reiji by his arms, the two men now swinging him in between them.
“I just wanted to be prepared, you never - how do you know we’re going to the dentist?”
“It’s my job to know these things. “
Rolling his eyes, Shouto finally took Reiji from Dabi and held him on his hip.
The toddler poked at his cheek, blowing raspberries and babbling his baby nonsense. Shouto looked at his son with a soft smile, nodding and humming at him in response. Reiji was only three going on four, so he didn’t know too much speech, not enough to really form sentences.
“Daddy, go to zoo too?”
“No - daddy and Reiji go to dentist.”
Now Reiji was nearly squirming out of Shouto’s hold, whining to go back to ‘Dab-Dab’.
“I know buddy, your father here is the real criminal huh - we just wanted to go see the lions!”
Shouto sighed and begrudgingly handed the toddler over to the other man. Tired of being outside, he finally invited Dabi back into the house - using the back door instead of the window. Once inside, the men went to the kitchen. Both of them grabbed a drink, Shouto grabbing a carton of banana milk for Reiji and tossing it to Dabi as he sat down at the counter with the happy kid.
“Well, even if I left right now, we would be late for his appointment and they would make us reschedule. So if I were you I’d bring food next time you decide to come over if you wanna get back on her good side because I’m totally throwing you under the bus for this.”
Dabi chuckled and sat back in his seat, bouncing Reiji on his knee while he drank his milk.
“Yeah yeah, so does that mean I can take him to the zoo?”
“Zoo! Zoo! I see wions daddy - rawr!” Reiji shouted with excitement, holding up his little hands to make paws.
Shouto quirked a brow, leaning back against the counter and crossed his arms.
“Look - I don’t know Dabi. Not everyone is aware of your double life here.”
Dabi hung his head back with a groan. He sighed after and looked at Reiji, lowering his face to the toddlers and cupping a hand around his ear. Shouto watched - knowing that whatever the patchwork man was telling his son, most definitely wasn’t good. Soon enough, turquoise and mismatched eyes were looking at him, two sets of lips jutted in pathetic pouts and they both put their hands together.
“Please daddy, I wanna see the wions!”
Next was Dabi’s turn.
“I just wanna take my little dude to see the wions!”
Shouto sighed and squeezed the bridge of his nose. Dabi looked like a total fucking idiot but … he couldn’t deny his own kid. Reiji was a pro at the puppy dog eyes and getting his way. The kid knew he had Shouto wrapped around his tiny finger, and maybe that was mostly thanks to fucking Dabi always using his own son agaisnt him. So finally after trying to bluff, Shouto groaned and shook his head.
“Fine - fine! But we have to do something about your appearance Dabi, people know who you are.”
“Okay then, what do you suggest?”
Shouto took a moment to think, crossing his arms again and rubbing his left temple with his fingertip. There had to be someway to allow Dabi to go out in public. A surgical mask wouldn’t hide all of his burns and wrapping him up like a mummy would be just weird. When Shouto scratched at his own burn, an idea suddenly popped into his head. Mulling it over, he then smiled at Dabi.
“I think I know what we can do. But - you’ll truly have to pull a Mrs.Doubtfire.”
Reiji was occupied with squashing his milk carton with his Ground Zero action figure, small shouts of ‘die, die’ here and there. Dabi looked at Shouto and scratched the back of his neck.
“Whatever it is - I’m not wearing fake tits!”
“Alright - I’m done. It only took us an hour but, I think this will work.”
Dabi sighed, leaning his head side to side to crack the tired bones in his neck after sitting on a stool for so long and not being able to move. Once Shouto stepped away from him and told him to check out his handiwork, Dabi rolled his eyes but did as told. When he did and looked into the mirror, there was no stopping the widening of his eyes and the small jump he might of done.
“Holy shit!”
There were no more burns, no more patchwork patterns on his face or ears. Now his skin was an all over even shade. Even his staples were expertly hidden under the makeup. And instead of wearing his usual low-cut white shirt, Dabi wore one of Shouto’s sweaters, hiding the burns that covered his chest and arms. Make-up also covered Dabi’s hands, up to his wrists. There was no way anyone in public would recognize him now, hell he couldn’t even recognize himself!
“Where the hell did you learn to do this?”
Shouto hummed while he cleaned up the bathroom counter.
“Fuyumi,” he started while wetting a rag so he could wipe the lipstick spiraling all over Reiji’s face. “Way back when I hated my scar, she taught me how to make it go away. Yours aren’t much different from mine, just more severe so it only took more makeup. Which by the way, you owe my wife - you owe her a new tube of this lipstick too.”
Dabi chuckled and took the tube from Shouto that was taken away from Reiji. He decided to help out with the clean-up and finished wiping Reiji’s cheeks and his hands.
“Hate to break it to ya kid but I don’t think this is your color.”
Reiji giggled and threw his little arms around Dabi’s neck, hugging him close when Dabi lifted him off the counter and the group made their way out of the bathroom.
“Go to zoo now?” The toddler asked, rubbing his eye with a small hand and yawning.
Shouto chuckled and went to grab his son. He held him close, letting Reiji curl into and cuddle him, resting a pink chubby cheek to his chest and holding his Gang Orca close. Shouto placed a kiss to his head and combed fingers through his red hair.
“Mhm. You’re gonna get a nice nap on the way there and when you wake up - we’ll see the lions!”
Reiji let out a quiet ‘wions’ and both the older men smiled. Shouto gently rubbed his sons back as he slowly started to fall asleep.
“Hey Dabi, do you mind getting his bags and I’ll meet you outside so I can put him in his car-seat?”
Dabi nodded and Shouto quietly thanked him before turning away and going to walk out the door. He was stopped though when Dabi called out to him. Stopping in his tracks, Shouto turned to see what the other man needed. Standing there, Dabi looked at the ground, one hand in his pocket and the other rubbing at the back of his neck.
“Uh - thanks. You know … for …”
Shouto smirked and shrugged.
“It’s no problem, it’s the least I can do - I owe a lot to you. Just next time you have a wild hair up your ass and decide to jump out the window with my kid … don’t? Like I said knock on the door, or fuck, knock on the window, I’ll open it for you!”
A genuine laugh left Dabi’s lips, “I’ll try.”