[ He doesn't miss that, that sort of pause and how the soul of the other man seems to amend itself. Almost seeming -- a touch gentler for a moment, maybe? It gives him hope. But the revelation there is entirely dwarfed by what he goes on to say, and Allen's visibly staggered by it. ]
Todoroki?! [ Eyes snap open wide, the recognition stamped as plainly on his face as the surprise. ]
I... I'm Allen Walker. I'm an exorcist, but -- [ "I have to be the one... to handle my brother."
The thing in the catacombs that had staggered and wrestled such a briefly emotional, anguished admission from his normally unshakeable friend... he hadn't understood it at the time. Hadn't really wanted to since it would have meant invading something the other boy clearly wanted to keep private. But now, everything he'd said... "He's like me. How I used to be. I was burning with rage, reckless... I didn't care about anything but denying him his legacy."
"I was him."
Allen breathes out, his expression having softened more to an awed sort of realization as he tries to reconcile that one visible eye of Dabi's -- Touya's -- with Shouto's bright one. The almost neon blue flames that limn the area. ]
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Todoroki?! [ Eyes snap open wide, the recognition stamped as plainly on his face as the surprise. ]
I... I'm Allen Walker. I'm an exorcist, but -- [ "I have to be the one... to handle my brother."
The thing in the catacombs that had staggered and wrestled such a briefly emotional, anguished admission from his normally unshakeable friend... he hadn't understood it at the time. Hadn't really wanted to since it would have meant invading something the other boy clearly wanted to keep private. But now, everything he'd said... "He's like me. How I used to be. I was burning with rage, reckless... I didn't care about anything but denying him his legacy."
"I was him."
Allen breathes out, his expression having softened more to an awed sort of realization as he tries to reconcile that one visible eye of Dabi's -- Touya's -- with Shouto's bright one. The almost neon blue flames that limn the area. ]
You... you're Shouto's brother, aren't you?