Shoto occupied Midoriya's thoughts more as the weeks wore on. As a therapist, any suspicion of abuse was supposed to be reported. However, doing so would threaten the trust between him and his young patient. He'd come so far with getting the boy to unload his burdens to him, it'd be such a waste to let that go just to follow procedure. Especially when he knew that Shoto would just withdraw again.

His latest reports from the school were all positive. His grades and his social interactions were both improving. He only had a few sessions left before the mandatory visit rule no longer applied. And once it did, he had no doubt that Shoto's father would never let him step foot in his office again.

The pressure to keep it a secret was a struggle in itself. The more Shoto shared about his past and his father, the more Midoriya's anger grew. This wasn't supposed to be the way a therapist reacted to a case. They were supposed to be impartial, yet his hatred for the second-ranked hero only grew with each disgusting detail his son revealed.

"How does he treat your other siblings?" Midoriya had asked during their recent meeting.

"As far as he's concerned, Fuyumi and Natsuo don't exist. As soon as they didn't manifest the ability he wanted, he ignored them. Once he got the results he was looking for with my quirk, he focused his attention on me. If anything, they're fortunate to avoid his attention. I'd never wish this on them or anyone else. I'm sure my oldest brother Touya felt the same way before he left, though I barely remember him."

"I'm sorry, did you say Touya?"

Shoto had an air of suspicion in his reply, "Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Oh, it's nothing, I thought I had misheard you, that's all." Midoriya had said, although internally he was screaming as he realized just who Shoto was related to.

Midoriya visited the bar after work more often after learning the truth about Shoto's home life. It wasn't unusual for him to stop in and have a drink while he was in college, especially after a particularly difficult case or class. Now he sat there, just over the edge of inebriated with one elbow propped up to support his face, thinking about whether he should dare to call that person.

The whiskey made the choice for him, and after a short relay of messages, a tall, slim man with a medical mask found his way over to Midoriya's corner of the bar.

"You've got a lot of nerve to get in touch with me, Midoriya. Didn't you learn your lesson about how to treat your elders back in high school?"

Midoriya looked up, noting the spiked up black hair where he'd last seen red. The cold, ice blue eyes pierced through him just as they did seven years ago during his first year at UA.

"I need your help, Touya. And don't bring up UA. You at least owe me the chance to speak after all you put me through."

"Aww c'mon, don't be like that. The other upperclassmen had far worse plans for you than the pranks I pulled. And don't call me by that name, it's Dabi now. Touya has been dead for years."

Midoriya shrugged, "I didn't call you here to talk about the past anyway. It's about your little brother's future."

At the mention of his brother, Dabi's arrogant smirk turned into a frown. "What about him? I know he's been going to your office lately. He tell you about our happy little family? Even though I took off, I keep an eye on him. You tell him that you and his big brother were buddies back in high school?"

"Hell no. He doesn't need to know about that part of my past. I wasn't even aware that he was related to you until he mentioned his oldest brother leaving home. Now all the cruel things you did to me back then make sense, considering the way you were being treated at home."

"Look asshole, I don't need you trying to pull your shrink shit on me. Like you said, we're not here to talk about the past. So what is it about Shoto that's got you worked up enough to call me?"

Midoriya poured himself more of the whiskey, then signaled for the bartender to bring over another glass. Pouring Dabi a shot, he explained his predicament without getting into too much detail on Shoto's more personal confessions. He knew this was a total break in patient confidentiality, but he was at his wit's end on finding a solution that would make everyone happy.

"I don't know how to fix this, Tou— Dabi. If I report Enji, Shoto will lose trust in me. Hell, doing so doesn't even sound like it would protect him. But if I do nothing…"

Dabi poured himself another drink, sliding his mask down long enough to swallow it with a sharp hiss before replying.

"Then do something. Don't think I'm not aware of how ruthless you can be. I still remember the time you stood up to me before I left UA. You get riled up enough by something and you're one dangerous bastard."

Midoriya sipped his drink and laughed. "You locked up every towel and piece of clothing in the locker room while I was showering. What was I supposed to do?"

"I dunno, but fighting me bare-ass naked was the last thing I was expecting of you. And that's what you need in this situation. Do the unexpected."

"What do you mean?"

"There's only one way to stop that bastard from hurting anyone else. You gotta kill him."

Midoriya nearly dropped the bottle he was pouring, "Are you serious? Holy shit, you are serious! Dabi, does it look like I'm capable of doing something like that?!"

"Of course not, which is why you'll actually get away with it. You pull it off and no one will ever think to suspect the Hero Therapist."

Midoriya thought about it. Shoto himself admitted that past attempts at turning Enji in had failed. The man obviously had no intention or desire to change his behavior. Despite all his heroic accolades, Enji Todoroki was just as terrible as a villain. He couldn't stand the thought of seeing Shoto walk into his office injured by that man's hand again.

"Tell me more," Midoriya said as he finished his glass.

"You're serious about going through with that? I have to say I'm impressed. So here's what you'll want to focus on if you're going to commit to this…"

The original bottle had long been drained and a second had taken its place as Dabi finished relaying his advice on how best to take care of Enji. Pushing his glass away, Midoriya knew it was time for him to leave. As he threw his money down on the counter and stood up to collect his coat, he eyed Dabi, who had grown quiet as he nursed his glass.

"If you had all these plans worked out already, why haven't you tried to kill him?"

Staring into the amber liquid, he was hesitant to answer at first. "Taking him out is a job for a hero, and I lost the right to that title years ago. Make no mistakes though, if you're caught, the world will see you as a hero killer, a villain. But you'll also have a select handful that will be set free of his tyranny and call you a hero, even if they can't say it out loud. You're gonna have to live with that fact."

Midoriya slid into his coat, "I can live with that just fine. I'd do anything to keep that boy from being harmed again. I appreciate your advice, Dabi."

"Like you said, I owed you. That's all this has to be, is repaying a debt."

AN: Sorry for such a long wait between updates, I've had a lot of other writing projects going on and this sadly got pushed to the side. But I've had a lot of good ideas on where to take the story from here, so hopefully, I'll get back to making regular chapter updates. Hope you are enjoying the story so far, thanks for the favorites and comments, they always mean the world to me! See you in the next chapter, where we see if Midoriya really is capable of carrying out Dabi's plans!