….
Dabi stepped out of Room 307, gently clicking the door shut behind him.
He moved briskly down the hallway, passed through the automatic glass doors of the facility's main lobby, and stepped outside.
Dropping his center of gravity, Dabi drew in a sharp breath.
BOOM!
Immediately, he shot up into the morning sky like a blue comet.
The battle was over, and the promises to the dead and the living had all been kept.
It was finally time to go home.
….
Back in the hospital room–
Rei Todoroki stood beside the glass, her pale fingers resting lightly against the cool windowpane.
A sudden, brilliant streak of azure cut across the morning sky, tearing through the white clouds and leaving behind a trail of blue mist that slowly drifted in the sunlight.
A smile touched her lips as she watched the streak vanish over the horizon.
"Have a safe trip home, Toya." Rei whispered softly to the empty room. "And give my love to your girls."
The glass had held her back from the world for twelve long years, but looking out at that open sky now, she didn't feel lonely anymore.
Her son was alive, and the sky was finally clear.
….
….
High above the sprawling cityscape, Dabi rocketed through the upper atmosphere at breakneck speed.
The wind roared in his ears, whipping his dark hair and loose shirt as he maintained [Total Concentration] breathing.
Below him, the grid of Tokyo blurred into a patchwork of roads and rooftops, the panic from Kamino Ward fading into the distance as everyday life slowly tried to regain its footing.
Every muscle in his body is physically exhausted. His reserves were long drained, and he was running purely on adrenaline and willpower.
"Man... note to self: I am applying for one week's rest." Dabi muttered aloud to the wind, a dry. "Or else my entire skeleton is going to file a formal complaint."
Yet, as the lush greenery surrounding the U.A. High School campus loomed into view, a genuine, relaxed smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth.
The primary administrative towers rose ahead, but Dabi bypassed them entirely, angling his trajectory straight toward the faculty residential dorms nestled among the trees.
"Alright, Bunny..." Dabi murmured, easing his descent as he locked his turquoise eyes onto the familiar balcony of his home. "Better have kept those pancakes warm."
The war was finished, the villains were gone, and the Commission had been shoved into the hands of a very stressed bird and a tired bureaucrat.
Now, all that was left was to walk through his front door, face the wrath of an impatient rabbit hero, and eat a very late breakfast with his daughters.
….
A soft, quiet hiss of azure flame dissipated beneath his boots as Dabi dropped gently from the sky, his feet touching down onto the soft grass of the front lawn.
The little garden and stone pathway had long since been restored to their pristine look, with fresh flowerbeds blooming where the ground had once cracked weeks ago.
Standing on the porch steps, Dabi closed his eyes and let out a long breath.
Through his heightened senses, his ears picked up the sweet, unmistakable melody of three little heartbeats thumping steadily inside the house.
He had promised to be back for breakfast, but glancing up at the sun resting high in the blue sky, he knew he was horribly late.
It was well past noon.
What he didn't know was that Rumi had only collapsed through the front door herself about ten minutes prior.
After taking the brunt of the frontline combat at Kamino, she had been dragged to U.A., where Recovery Girl subjected her to a merciless, full body healing marathon.
The treatment had drained every scrap of stamina from her muscles, turning her limbs into heavy lead.
But with her signature, stubborn refusal to stay in a hospital bed, she had completely ignored the medical staff, limped to the faculty daycare wing to scoop up their two baby girls, and dragged herself home just to make sure she was sitting on their couch before Dabi arrived.
She had barely made it, and now, her two tiny nurses were staging a full blown mutiny.
"Mama, no! You have to be a sleepy burrito!" Eri's tiny, sweet voice drifted through the wooden door, filled with the dramatic authority only a six year old could muster. "Granny Recovery Girl said your bones are sleepy! If you stand up, your legs will turn into jelly!"
"Yeah, Mama! No waddlin' around!" Himiko piped up, her cute toddler lisp making her sound impossibly fierce as she stomped her little feet in her oversized bunny slippers. "Papa made us the boss of the house while he was flying! We are the big protectors now!"
Rumi had made the mistake of trying to haul herself off the living room sofa to fry some eggs, only to be instantly swarmed by the two pint sized drill sergeants.
Eri had literally thrown a plush blanket over her legs, while Himiko aggressively pushed a soft throw pillow against her face, ordering her to go to sleep.
Rumi had collapsed back against the cushions, wheezing with helpless, breathless laughter.
"Alright, alright! I surrender, you little bullies!" Rumi had wheezed fondly, her white rabbit ears drooping tiredly over the edge of the couch. "The big bad hero is staying on the couch. But who's gonna make you two lunch, huh? My stomach is making monster noises."
"We will do it!" Eri declared, puffing out her chest proudly. "We are big helper girls!"
"I wanna cook!" Himiko cheered, jumping up and down with both hands in the air. "I can make yummy foods for Papa and Mama!"
Rumi, knowing better than to let two toddlers anywhere near a stove or a sharp knife, quickly established ground rules.
The ultimate five star lunch menu was declared: chocolate flavored peanut butter sandwiches.
Which doesn't involve any heat, no sharp edges, and absolutely no danger, just pure, sweet chaos.
From her spot on the sofa, nestled beneath two warm blankets with an ice pack resting on her shoulder, Rumi watched them like a lazy general.
"Okay, chef Eri, chef Himiko." Rumi said, her voice raspy and soft with adoration. "Rule number one: open the jar without smashing it on the rug. Rule number two: use the baby spoons, not your paws. And rule number three: try to get some of the chocolate on the bread instead of just eating it."
The two girls took their mission with grave, adorable seriousness.
Sitting crisscross on the soft carpet by the low coffee table, Eri gripped the dull blue plastic spoon with both hands, sticking the tip of her tongue out as she concentrated on spreading a massive glob of chocolate spread across a slice of soft white bread.
"Careful, Himi chan." Eri whispered in a super-secret voice, as if handling high-grade explosives. "We have to make it super pretty for Papa because he worked very hard today."
"Super pretty!" Himiko agreed eagerly.
She took another slice of bread, jammed her entire tiny hand into the jar, and smeared a gigantic brown streak right across the center.
Along the way, she managed to paint her own knuckles, the cuff of her yellow sweater, and a thick brown smudge straight across her nose.
Looking up, Himiko noticed a tiny drop of chocolate spread that had splashed onto Eri's cheek.
Himiko gasped softly.
Her golden eyes widened like two shiny marbles.
With an innocent little giggle, she reached over with a sticky, chubby finger, gently wiped the sweet smear right off Eri's cheek, and popped it straight into her mouth.
Slurp.
Himiko's entire face lit up in pure, sugary ecstasy, her tiny fangs poking out as she grinned from ear to ear.
"Eri-chan! You taste like candy!" Himiko squealed, clapping her sticky hands together. "It's so, so sweet! Taste your cheek, Eri-chan! Taste it!"
"Himi, nooo! Don't lick my face!" Eri dissolved into a fit of bubbly, high pitched giggles, squirming away as her little sister tried to reach for her other cheek with chocolate covered paws. "You're getting sweet stuff all over my hair! You're a silly sticky monster!"
"I am a chocolate bunny monster! Rawr!" Himiko giggled, planting a messy, chocolate scented kiss right against Eri's temple.
On the sofa, Rumi watched the two little girls rolling around on the fluffy carpet in a pile of bread crusts and giggles.
She laughed so hard her tired ribs throbbed, but her crimson eyes were shining with overflowing, tender warmth.
"Oh, look at you two little messes." Rumi murmured, her ears twitching with fond amusement as she rested her chin on a pillow. "Your dad is gonna walk through that door, look at this disaster zone, and think a sweet little tornado hit the pantry. But hey... save a bite for your old man, okay? He probably ran on fumes just to get back to you."
Outside on the sunlit porch, Dabi stood frozen just before the door handle.
Listening to the soft, chaotic melody of baby giggles, Himiko's squeaky little growls, Eri's bright laughter, and Rumi's teasing, hoarse chuckles, every lingering ounce of exhaustion simply vanished from his body.
The ash of Kamino, the dark memories of the Commission, the scars, and the battles all faded away out here, as though none of them had ever existed.
His heart felt so overwhelmingly full and warm it almost hurt.
A soft, genuinely happy smile spread across his face, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
Reaching out with a gentle, scarred hand, Dabi pressed the doorbell.
Ding-dong.
Instantly, the living room fell dead silent.
"PAPA?!" two squeaky voices gasped at the exact same second.
A flurry of tiny, frantic footsteps came thundering across the hardwood floor, followed by two little voices shouting at the top of their lungs:
"PAPA IS HOME! PAPA IS HOME!"
Dabi chuckled softly, resting his hand against the doorframe as he waited for the door to burst open.
.
….
[To be continued…]
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