Iamskadhi - Skadhi

I love that he has pink gums, he may burn himself inside out but he won't smoke a single cigarette, that shit's bad 🚭

Thank you animators for blessing our eyes and giving us Dabi in the sunset 🙏 finally that horrendous blue sky is gone

Literalmente lo que pensaba mientras escribía esto xd

Note: this is the first time I write anything in english so take it more like an idea or whatever. I have no respect for this language, but correct me when I'm wrong, please.

I had this "OC" in my mind for years but I can't recall her name, so you can imagine this is you, you're narrating this story, past tense and present might be a little all over the place, ehe.

I always imagined this like a series of mini comics because it contains some things from Dabi's past like before being Dabi the villain but after the fire that "killed him", I'm just not patient or talented enough to draw all that.

+4000 words.

Warning: it may be boring, you may read some dumb teen behaviour, soft +18 content, slow burn, and some Bella Swan vibes.

Nothing more to say, I hope somebody likes it.

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I met Dabi when I was barely a teenager; too young, too naive, but also too mad at my parents so I took every chance to be with people I shouldn't be around and that's exactly how I met him. He had a fire quirk that harms his body so he looked like shit, he wasn’t exactly handsome but he was light-hearted.

I noticed he dyed his hair black and I started to help him with it, also helped him cure his skin when he over used his quirk. I don’t know how or when but we became closer.

There was just... something in his eyes. Never seen eyes that color blue. Anybody would think he was a bad influence but it was the other way round. Dabi was such a nice guy, always telling me to go home, go to school, helping me with anything I needed and all I needed was him —with me— all the time.

“I like you” he said, “you’re kind and pretty, also you’re rich, why do you hang around these losers?”

“I like you” I said. I could never forget the smile on his face.

He told me about his past and I thought his future was us, together. We were young, those were the days when you think you know everything but you’re just naïve, too naïve. We would lay down in the grass and tangle up, I usually bring food and beverages for everyone, he’d put his arm around my shoulders and tell everyone not to mess with me, he made me feel special, he made me feel loved and mature.

We invented a signal and we started to meet at midnight, it was easy because I had a quirk that allowed me to teleport. Wherever he strayed, I followed and I would’ve begged for him to hold my hand and never let go.

However, time passed and he and his friends got in big trouble. I knew they were thieves, and then they became murderers and had to take different paths.

“You can’t hide me alone, are you fucked in the head?!” Dabi yelled at me when we had our first big fight because of that. “We need to go and you can’t come with us, your parents will get us caught for kidnapping, this is my last word. You stay, we’ll meet again someday.”

We lost contact before I graduated; he simply disappeared and left me with a broken heart.

I cried my eyes out for a month, but a girl gotta be tough and smart and independent. I moved out of my parents house when I finished high school, thanks to my dad, he rented a whole apartment near college and that was probably the first time in a long time I was grateful to have a wealthy family.

I just had to study and work for the family business and life would be sweet, but then one day I saw him. He walked by the Coffee Shop I used to go. How could I ever forget him? He wasn't exactly my first love but definitely one true love. My heart stopped for a second and then raced like crazy, I got up and out of the place running.

"DABI" I yelled but he kept walking, "Dabi, stop!" He walked around the corner of a dark alley, so I stopped, I doubted:

Should I follow or should I let him go for good? It's been a couple of years, he probably has someone new now, I thought.

Then I heard him:

"It's been a long time" he said from the shadows of that alley, his voice changed a bit, matured, "I was convinced you forgot about me. I missed you"

A tear shed from my left eye when I saw his face, his burned skin looked worse than before.

"What an asshole" I said and ran to his arms, hugged him hard enough for him to moan, "I thought I'd never see you again."

I punched his chest.

"You dumbass, I hate you. I hate you! I should hate you but I'm just mad at you and I just wanna cry and I... I..." words escaped from my mind for a moment, "do you want a coffee or anything?"

He laughed and hugged me gently.

"I'm sorry. I missed you", he said.

For what it felt like an eternity, that was all that he could say. I was confused and happy at the same time, he walked with me to my place, looked up at the building and said something about being too far from his place, he didn't tell me where his place was or what he's been doing. We made a deal to meet at the coffee shop every Wednesday and for a few months that was okay.

“I still like you” he confessed randomly.

“I like you too”

He never told me what he does for a living, but I could imagine it. I felt like the more that he said, the less that I knew about his life and I was okay with that as long as he would stay around.

One day, he didn't show up. The next Wednesday, he came with an excuse about a job I’m sure he made up to keep me happy, to keep me safe.

"Dabi, why don't you come live with me?" I asked one time. His big blue eyes were wide open and I was sure he was gonna say no, so I insisted:

"I don't have a lot of free time lately, this is my senior year and I need to focus but I still want you around, come live with me and I'll see you every night, you don't have to worry about your job, you know you can live rent-free and..."

"No. Stop. No."

"Just come see the apartment, please.” I insisted, I didn’t want to let him go again, “It's big enough I swear and we can..."

"Please, stop. I have pride. I'm still a man."

He talked about how different we were, but I knew it wasn't true, he said maybe if I was less dependent of my parents we could work this out, but I knew that was just an excuse. It took me a couple of months but I made him come into my apartment.

"I just need to pick something real quick, come with me" I said and it wasn't all lie, I needed something it just wouldn't be quick.

He looked around the living room, I went to my bedroom to pick some books and when I walked out, he was looking out the window.

"You have a nice view", he said. I could see his blue eyes reflexing on the window’s glass.

"I know"

I walked to him and hugged him.

"I missed being this close in private.” I whispered.

“The last time we were fifteen", he concurred.

He didn't grow any taller since then, I put my head on his shoulder and felt a shiver. His hands went from my hair down to my shoulders, then down to my back until he touched my ass cheeks. I closed my eyes and left a sigh out.

"You've changed", he whispered, I looked at his face and he had that smile, I'd never forget the smile he had the first time I saw him, or the first time that we had sex.

"We were just kids back then, pretending to be adults"

"I don't regret that" he kissed me slowly.

"Me neither"

He took my clothes off clumsily and I led us to the couch, I could tell he didn't have anything with anybody else and I was so relief about it. I took his jacket off and went straight to his pants; he already had an erection like he was craving for it all this time.

"No more games" he said "let's go to your room"

I took his hand and we went to bed, I laid down and he kissed and touched me viciously, then I remembered I didn't have a condom and pushed him away.

"Do you have...?"

"No" he said, he knew what I meant.

"Damn it!" I cursed; we were already there like that. "I could go..."

"No, don't worry. You had to pick something anyway; we'll do it any other day"

My heart raced. I wanted to take him immediately when he said that, but I just kissed him and made him promise he'd come back. And he did. Over and over.

Until he was practically living there with me. I had him just where I wanted and then, one day, my mother showed up.

"You have to finish this relationship before other people find out. You can't live like this, we raised you better than that. You better not get pregnant or I'll drag you to an abortion clinic myself."

Good thing: that day Dabi wasn't around. Time passed and he was more and more time somewhere far away; I had the feeling he would disappear again, so I had to talk it out but I didn’t know how, I thought he would take it as a sign to completely disappear.

"You could leave a note, you know, or send me a text. Tell me when you're leaving, for how long... I'll graduate soon, I'm busy too but at least I tell you when I'm coming home late."

"I think I can't keep living here" he said "I've been trying to protect you from the things I do, but I think it's catching up. I can't risk you, I can't lose you"

I felt my blood pressure go low.

"So you're leaving me... again"

He did not say anything.

We both knew this day would come around. I just wanted to keep my delusional idea that we would work things out. Run away together, somewhere far from Japan. I even suggested Spanish lessons one night.

"I love you" he whispered in my ear when he hugged me "and I'll find you when I'm done"

"Done with what?"

He kissed me and walked to the door.

"Touya, done with what?!"

I only called him by his real name when I was angry and he knew. His last gaze before closing the door was so sad but I was at the edge of going mad.

"STUPID TODOROKI!"

I threw my phone across the living room. I screamed and kicked the sofa, my tears ricochet and I tried to stop them with my hands but couldn’t; and then I just went to my room and tried to retain it all back inside.

I cried, until my face was red and swollen and couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. I looked like a frog whenever I cry this much so I did't get out of bed for a whole day.

I couldn't possibly imagine what he was doing; but every time there was a fire, anything related to blue flames I knew it was him and I kinda knew why. I knew everything about his family, about his father.

All Might retired, so Dabi's father was #1 Hero now. It must have messed with his brain and I wished I could have helped him, but you cannot help someone that doesn't want to be saved.

I did my best to move on. I graduated and started to work at my father's company. I realized Dabi was right about me: I was my father’s daughter and I couldn’t live without his protection; but there was nothing wrong about it, now that I was older, I realized I was lucky for it. I wished he had my luck.

Left the apartment and moved to a different city, my mom was too excited about that, she visited me the first chance she had.

"You know whose hero's agency is really near?" She asked me, "Hawks’ agency, the #2 hero!" She was suspiciously excited about it, "he's so young but so talented and handsome! You know, I could set..."

"Mother, leave"

"What?"

"You do not get to do this, you do not get to set me a blind dates, I don't want you to do that and I don't want you here. I moved so I didn't have to have you around, don't visit me unannounced anymore, please, now leave"

"You ungrateful piece of shit" she started saying something but I wasn’t gonna let her talk:

"Yeah, I know, I know, take your things now and leave"

She started an argument so I just walked to my bedroom and closed the door lock. I assumed she would get tired of talking to the door and leave. I took a sleeping pill; I loved those pills. Then the most unimaginable thing happened when I woke up, there was a chaos outside, too much noise and heat and apparently, there was two heroes fighting a monster, a nomu.

I went inside to check the news, the battle seemed lost but Endeavor managed to win. I fucking hated that guy, but damn he was strong… and so was his son.

I missed Dabi. I kept sending text messages for a while after he left me and he never replied so I stopped, but at that moment I felt the urge to try again.

“Did you watch the news?” I asked.

“What’s your new address?”

“Are you serious, you fucking dork?" I texted back.

"I'll find you, I'm pretty near" he replied. I blushed a little, I felt excited to see him again.

"You better come with a bouquet, coffee and the most dramatic apology you can think of"

“LMAO”, was his last text.

Almost a week later, a bouquet appeared at my entrance.

Holy shit, I thought. There was a note: "I miss you, I’ll be back soon"

Later, after work, I got a free coffee.

"A guy paid for it earlier, he said he knew you, I hope it's okay" said the girl at the counter.

"He had blue eyes and looked like a crispy chip?"

"Mmm, yes" she stuttered.

"It's good, thank you"

“You’re welcome, come back soon!” She sighed in relief.

Then, when I got home the door was open and it made me so angry.

"If this is the best apology you can imagine, you're the biggest asshole...!"

However, there was no one inside. I looked around the house, he wasn't there. I felt insecure so I called a friend, I stayed at her apartment that night and she tried to convince me to call the police.

I said I would, but I called him instead.

He answered.

"Today at my house, was it you?"

"What?" He sounded confuse.

"The door was open but there was no one inside"

"I sent you flowers and coffee but I didn't think of any way to apologize enough to you. I didn't go to your house and I won't go until you let me"

"Okay… I think I'll call the police then, don’t come near"

"Good. Take care."

“I…”

Silence. I didn’t know what to say, I didn’t expect him to pick up the phone in the first place. He whispered my name:

“Thank you for loving me this whole time” he said and hung up.

I felt like stupid for not saying anything. I didn’t even said that I loved him, never said it but actions speak for themselves and I couldn’t deny it.

After calling the police, some heroes would walk by my house every damn day; my father visited to make sure they did, my mother was too offended to come with him.

Turned out it was just a robbery case.

“Your mom and I talked about what happened between you two and I have to keep her happy, honey”, he stated “they don’t say ‘happy wife, happy life’ for nothing, I know she hasn’t been the best to you, but she tries”

“She treats me like shit, always have”

“Don’t say that” he sighed. “Let’s make a deal: I will set you a couple of dates just to calm her down and you choose the type of man you want to go to dates with, uh?”

I smiled viciously.

“No criminals!” he immediately said “don’t put yourself in danger just to get to your mother’s nerves, think about me too. There must be some nice guys you’d like to meet.”

“What if I want to date a woman?”

“Fine by me, I like woman too”

“I don’t like woman that way, I just wanted to know if I could.”

He laughed and looked at the time.

“Your mom told me about that hero, Hawks, I met him and he’s not very heroic actually, he’s just lucky he has a useful quirk, I think you’d like him”

“You’re pushing me”

“I’m not. Let’s set this now, you’ll have two dates, one with that hero prick and one with whoever you want, some college colleague preferably”

“Okay, fine, but the second date will be a woman.”

Mother always got what she wanted.

“Excellent, my dear! Send me her profile when you pick one, I’ll set the time and date, you go wherever you want and keep me updated. I gotta go now”

I chose a friend from college my mother never seemed to approve. As soon as I made my choice, my dad did his part.

The day I met Keigo it was rainy, he asked me if I wanted to cancel but I didn’t, I liked rain when it’s calm and I wanted to finish my duty as soon as possible. We went for coffee, watched a movie and then to a nice but not too elegant restaurant for dinner.

When I told him I had no intentions to date him, he told me he had no excuse to reject this date since he took a break from his hero’s agency for personal reasons; he seemed nice, careless and turned out to be easy-going, but he wasn’t Dabi.

I swore I could go home by myself but he insisted and when we were arriving, he put his arms around me.

“Don’t be scared” he said and took fly with me. I teleported back to the ground without thinking and shouted at him:

“What the fuck were you thinking?! What were you trying to do to me, you psycho?!”

He looked down at me and I felt a hand on my shoulder.

“You’re not supposed to use your quirk whenever you want, you’re not a professional hero nor a villain like me” Dabi was by my side and his eyes locked to Keigo’s. He came down with his hands exposed.

“I sensed you following me, I didn’t think you two knew each other” Keigo looked careful now.

“We’re like childhood friends” Dabi said, “I was curious why would someone like her hang around a hero like you”

“It was my mom’s idea” I said, “Dad intervened, long story short, I have to go to blind dates now, it’s none of your business” I looked at Keigo: “now I am curious why you’re not trying to catch him”

“I told you I’m off duty”

“Sure”

Something was off, I knew but I couldn’t tell. Dabi always kept me far enough and safe from his business. These two knew each other, but I couldn’t tell if Dabi was an informant or it was the other way round.

“I’ll take her home now” Dabi said.

“What kind of man would let his date go home with another man?” Keigo smiled.

I felt Dabi’s hand get warmer so I took it off my shoulder.

“I told you I could go home by myself, so I’m leaving. You two can catch up now, it seems like you have something to talk about”

“You’re wrong” Dabi said, “You and I have a lot to catch up”

I looked him in the eyes, it cut deep to know him right to the bone. He came back and he’d go away soon.

“I know that it’s over, Dabi, I don’t need your closure” I said firmly and walked away. It hurted more than I expected, I wasn’t serious, just wanted to mislead Hawks.

The rain came pouring down the closer I got home, it helped me conceal my stupid tears. That night I slept on the couch, I kinda expected Dabi to come but he did not.

Keigo, on the other hand, appeared at my door early in the morning with a nice bouquet.

“You may think I’m not serious,” he said “but I found you amusing”

He accompanied me on the way to work, behave nicely, but I suspected of his true intentions.

“Dabi was a part of a rebel phase when I was younger,” I admitted, he didn’t say anything, neither pretended he didn’t wanna know, “he comes and goes, he may think that I’m bulletproof but I’m not”

“With a quirk like yours, you could easily avoid a bullet” he tried to joke around but I didn’t let it slide.

“I’m conscious that he sees what he does to me, he knows exactly how to ruin a perfect day and I’m sick and tired of that attitude, so whatever you’re trying to do here, end it right now”

His smirk faded.

“Last night you said it was over, but I see it’s not. I won’t annoy you anymore”

His phone ringed, we said goodbye and he left me alone. I knew he just wanted to know if I was involved in anything Dabi was.

Life turned boring for a while and that was okay, but myhouse started to feel too big for me alone. I was considering to move to an apartment or bring a girl friend to live with me when I looked out the window and saw a letter outside the mailbox; when I went out to pick it, looked around but didn’t see anybody.

I knew it was his.

I knew it was a goodbye letter, I had to let him go.

“I won’t make assumptions why you moved to a different city but I think it’s cause of me. I swear I gave my blood, sweat and if I could cry I’d give my tears to protect you from the things that I do but it wasn’t enough, I could never give you peace”, he wrote.

“Deep down I hoped I would never lose you, eventually I did. I’m not your problem anymore. I can’t just show up at your front door and expect you to let me in, but I want to do it anyway.

Now that we don’t talk, I just wanted you to know I wish I was a better man for you.”

Lastly, he wrote:

“I’m sorry that I hurted you, it’s not your fault.”

I never felt so attacked by a piece of paper in my life. I knew I was better alone than needing a man like him, but the heart wants what it wants. Wishing he was a better man wasn’t an option, I loved him for being the man he was, the fact that he didn’t see it my way was painful.

All this time I thought he could see right through me, now I wonder what was he seeing this whole time.

I called him but he didn’t pick up the phone, so I started to write a text message when I heard the door ring bell and he was there standing at my door.

“This is the last time” he said, “I swear this is the last time”

He put his arms around me, he was warm and had that suspicious smell like he over used his quirk.

“You’re an asshole” I mumbled.

“I know”

“I’m tired of this”

“I know”

“I don’t wanna keep secrets just to keep you”

“You won’t have to”

I looked at his face, surprised.

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s go inside, we have a lot to talk about” he walked in.

For the first time, he opened up about everything, I listened carefully; I got worried, even cried a little. I suggested again that we could run away together but he didn’t want to, he was determined to fulfil his revenge against Endeavor even if it killed him in the process.

It made me want to die. I took a deep breath.

“You can’t come here and expect me to accept that you’re willing to die just to expose your father’s shit to everyone in Japan” he opened his mouth but I didn’t let him talk, “you have to choose right now, Touya, you leave now or you stay with me. You can’t just ask a person that loves you to sit and watch you get killed, you’ll have to kill me just the same”

Dabi hugged me gently, kissed me softly.

“Never going to happen”

My heart ached. I knew he’d leave me in the morning, but all I could think about was that I wished I could go back in time and save Touya from that fire. If anybody could go back in time and save him, knowing what I know, even if it meant we wouldn’t meet or be together… that’d be okay.

“Dabi, I’m sorry I didn’t meet you before”

He looked confused.

“I think we never stood a chance, did we? Wanna come to bed?” I asked and he smiled.

“Yeah, ready for it?”

I laughed and took his hand, led him to the bedroom, took his jacket off and appreciated his burned arms for a moment. I touched his burned lip with the tip of my finger.

“I love you” he said.

“Just not enough to stay”

“I…”

I shushed him. Nothing he could say would eased the pain I was feeling that night. I hugged him, kissed him and whispered in his ear:

“I love you too. Now show me your love with actions instead of words”

Story of a villain - Part 2

Hi, Dabi stans, here is the translation of the second part of my fanfiction (it isn't posted anywhere else, btw)

In case you haven't read or want to read the Part 1 of Story of a villan.

As I mentioned before, it is written from a male POV (Dabi's POV), it has a explicit smut parts, includes a little self-loathing, original characters (but the female lead doesn't have a name so you can pretend it's you)

I decided to use the word "part" instead of "chapter" because I actually merged a lot of small chapters I've written before, I'm trying to make it fit in 3 parts so this is the middle of the whole thing and I'm going to say that is so satisfying to write a love story this way, I've never done this before and I highly recomend it now.

The first part has +7000 words and this part has +8000 words, there are no big descriptions of places or time because I tried to write it as a light novel, feel free to send me messages to correct my gramar or if you have any comment about the times not making sense or anything else.

Anyway, I hope you like it.

PART 2

Slowly, we became more than what we were already: a chosen family. Together we found an apartment – smaller than her former place, but nicely located – and for almost a month, I managed to kill most of my old habits, but it costed me, the old me was screaming in the back of my mind next to my thirteen-year-old corpse.

Some nights, we talked about the future before sleeping and I noticed the way she smoothed the ground, patiently helping me to feel safe and at home; she had no idea my home is wherever she is.

Then, I got a job under a fake name. I went from drug dealing in dark alleys to torturing people and now I was a security guard at a downtown club known as Beanie and One Day.

“You’re sketchy as fuck” said the manager, a mid-forty man named Tanaka Haru, “can you throw jerks out the door?”

“I’m not that strong”, I admitted.

He doubted, but I got the job. I got the name, the place, the girl; but it wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t satisfied at all; and only to make things worse, her mother came to our place one morning after my babe went to work, she looked around and tried to bribe me to leave her daughter alone.

“I love your daughter,” I told her clearly.

“You’re ruining her life!” she accused me. “I talked to her father and if you don’t get out of her life for good, he’ll remove her from the company”

I grinned and she looked at me as if I was crazy.

“You wouldn’t. You care too much about what other people thinks”

“Oh, believe me, we would and we will take her out of the country after that, so don’t get too comfortable in this dumpster you brought her to live with you. Take the money, you clearly need it if this is the best you can get” she disappeared ­— she had a teleportation quirk too.

I looked out the window, a black car that was park outside started up and fled immediately; that was probably hers. I wanted to burn the card and money she left, but I let it there, kept the card in my pocket.

When my babe came home, I noticed she was upset too.

“Wanna eat outside?” she asked me.

As we walked, she started to point out all of the benefits of the new place, it made me sad how hard she was trying to convince herself she was okay without all of her privileges.

I couldn’t keep it in anymore:

“Your mom visited” She stopped walking, so I stood there too, “Did you talked to your father today?”

“What did she say?”

Something horrible was going on inside her head, it was obvious, I showed her the card.

“She offered money to separate us”, I burned it “She said you were supposed to go to your parent’s house that night, but I guess you knew that already.”

“I finally got you” she said, “I got you, I can’t be the one who leaves. I started over, I’m adapting”

“No, you’re not”

“Yes, I am!” she looked at me, her gaze was reddish, irritated, I sighed.

“Did you cry today, baby?”

“Don’t treat me like a kid!” she ran her hands through her hair in exasperation.

“I’m not doing that, I see it in your eyes.”

She swore she was fine, but it wasn’t true. After eating, we took the long way home, as we walked in the building her mother’s words resonated in my mind: “you’re ruining her life”.

My babe smiled at me when we entered, put her arms around my neck and kissed me deeply, I closed the door behind us… and clothes started falling on the floor.

If she could smile like that and still embrace me as tenderly as she just did, how could I still believe that her mother was right? I totally screwed her and she was happy with it.

“You still haven’t got your period, you should get tested,” I suggested her when we were done.

“Are you worried?” she put on my shirt.

“I don’t wanna be like our parents”

“Me neither, but it’s too soon to know”

It was killing me and I wondered how she managed to keep it cool and if she even wanted to have kids. I never asked, we never talked about it, I assumed it was off the table.

My heart ached just thinking about it.

Doing a regular job was way boring than I thought it would be, but it helped get my mind distracted; at the end of the shift, the bartender –a mid-thirty man named Haruma— would serve some drinks and the manager  pointed out all the things that should be improved.

“You’re new” I heard a soft voice behind me, a girl’s voice, one of the girls that dance around the place to keep a fun mood sat next to me.

“Hey, Momo, I didn’t see you tonight” Haruma smiled at her, brought another glass for her.

“I kept sober tonight, there are less jerks lately,” she said looking at me.

“Thanks to the new guy!” the manager put his thumbs up for me.

“I suspected it”, she smiled “I’ve been watching you, you got a big reputation”

“He does?” Haruma asked. I tensed.

“Yeah, girl’s notice his cute face and whisper about his scars, how did you get them?”

She pissed me, but the bartender was paying attention.

“Did it myself”

“How?” she wanted to know.

“That’s none of your business”

“I heard you got a fire quirk, Miura” Haruma was too amicable for his own good.

“Really?” Momo giggled. I just nodded and she put her hand on my arm. “I got a water quirk”

I pulled my arm away and jump up the chair immediately; she literally watered me and soaked my jacket sleeve.

“The fuck’s wrong with you?!”

She laughed and grinned.

“I guess we’re not compatible”

I could see that she was insane and I shouldn’t even look at her but she annoyed me.

“Momo, are you okay?!” the manager yelled from the other side of the club.

“That was uncalled for, Momo” the bartender reprimanded her, “Don’t take it bad, Miura, she’s not good socializing, that’s all”

“Put a sign on her next time!” I exclaimed.

“Oh, I can’t wait for the next time” she giggled.

“Don’t be rude” Haruma reproached her again.

I just left. It was still dark; when I got home, my babe was sleeping. We spent little to no time together since I got this job; I took a shower before getting into bed with her and she opened her beautiful sparkly eyes as I laid next to her.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered “Didn’t mean to wake you up”

“How was your night?”

“It was fine”

“Good” she mumbled and closed her eyes again. I tucked her hair behind her ear and she sighed, “You smell nice”

I cuddled her and fell asleep in a minute.

The smell of something very delicious woke me up, I went to the kitchen and saw Hana.

“I’m sorry, were we being too loud?” my babe asked. I shook my head, still sleepy.

“It was the bacon, right? Come, sit” Hana was cooking. “I like your new apartment, it’s close to where I live so I thought I could come and eat breakfast together, I didn’t mean to disturb. It’s nice to see you’ve taken care of your skin” she walked to me and analyzed my face, “but I see a couple of dots near under your eyes, they don’t look like moles”

“It’s nothing,” I said and she left it.

I ate in silence and went back to bed, but I could still hear them talk:

“Did you tell him?” Hana asked.

“No, he won’t take it well”

“You should tell him, though”

I swallowed the bad feeling and slept, but I didn’t rest well.

“What could it be?” I thought before falling asleep, “Did she get tested?”

It clicked my mind: she was pregnant, it was obvious and expected —not “we wanted this” type of expected, but “it had to happen” type. I cooked dinner and waited for her.

Time passed slowly, I called her and she didn’t answer; it’s something that never happens.

“Where are you?” Sent.

A few minutes later, she was writing.

“With Hana” Read.

“At the hospital?” Sent.

“At her place” Read.

I had a bad feeling.

“You OK?” Sent.

“Of course, my love. See you later” Read.

I wasn’t gonna let it slide. I had Hana’s phone number; I just never sent her a text or called her before. No, I did when they were in high school— I thought and called her:

“Hi, hi” she answered.

“Hi, are you having dinner or something?” I asked.

“Who’s this?” she asked, “Oh, Dabi, hi, why do you ask me that?”

I swallowed my saliva as I realized.

“You’re not together”

“I feel like I missed something, I’m sorry, I’m at ER right now and you called me out of the blue…”

“What were you talking about this morning?” I wanted to know.

“This morning? You were there”

“When I left you two alone, that one thing I won’t take well”

There was a brief silence.

“I’m gonna tell you, but act like you don’t know, okay?”

“Why?”

“It’s not that bad. You know the way her parents are and she had to do this, believe me, she didn’t have a choice, well she did but the other choice was something totally irrational and…”

“Spill it, Hana”

“They set her a date with some wealthy prick, she already knows him from college and he’s an idiot, she had to go, trust me, trust her, she’ll just go to dinner with him tonight and it’s done, please don’t freak out”

“Where?”

“I don’t know” she mumbled, “I swear. She mentioned it but I’ve never been there, it’s new and stylish, the kind of place her mom adores; I just know it opened this week”

That was the only clue I needed.

“Do you know when they’re supposed to meet?”

“Please just let it slide, they must be there already, she’ll be home real soon”

“Thanks” I hung up. I had to see the wealthy prick.

If they met in college I had someone in mind, I hated thinking about it. Searched online for newly opened restaurants and went straight to the one that looked more stupidly pompous.

It had big fucking crystal doors but no windows, I had to go in; the host welcomed me with a fake smile:

“I’m sorry. We have a dress code, sir”

I ignored her and walked in, looking around, she followed me, heard some gasps and I saw them. I fucking saw the same asshole that used to stalk her back in college and felt the anger heating inside my chest.

A waiter addressed me: “I’m sorry, gentleman, but you have to respect…”

“Who’s manning that table?” I pointed them.

“I’m sorry again; I can’t give you that info…”

I walked to them, she hadn’t see me but I stopped when she stood up and spilled her wine on his face. He got up too, a waiter jumped in offering a napkin and I hurried to the table.

“You’re still the same immature little girl, I see” the prick said walking towards her, I reached him just in time, put my hand on his shoulder.

“Long time no see, fucking loser”

She widened her eyes surprised; she really didn’t noticed I was there until now.

“Who the fuck are you?” he looked at me confused; I grinned and let a little blue blaze out my hand on his shoulder.

“You forgot about me? That’s sad, I remember you perfectly, fucking asshole”

He squealed like a little bitch, I perfectly saw in his eyes when he remembered; she jumped in and pushed me back.

“Dabi, let’s go” she said while pushing me “Let’s go, let’s go”

I let go of his shoulder and stepped back, grinning like a devil, mad as fuck:

“Damn, you’re lucky we’re at a fancy place!”

“Please, let’s go!” she took my hand and pulled me, we rushed out of the restaurant, when we were outside I confronted her:

“Why did you do this?”

“Why did you do that?!” she reproached me.

“No, there’s no possible way you can turn this on me, what the fuck happened?”

She looked at me as if she was completely out of her mind before turning her back on me, and walked away.

“Where the fuck are you going?” I followed her.

“Home! I need to change!”

“You need to explain!”

“No! How did you find out?” she bawled, “Why are you here? Why…?”

I reached her hand and stopped her, people walked around but I had to see her face; she was turning red but she wasn’t crying.

“What would you have done if I hadn’t been there?” I asked calmly.

“I would’ve teleported out of there,” she said, but I know she wouldn’t have done that. “I would’ve go home, like I’m trying to do now” she hugged herself.

She was gorgeous; wearing a red dress and her hair up, she looked like a movie star or a model. I really wanted to fight for this, but I also wanted to take her home and make love to her fully dressed like that.

“You asked Hana, didn’t you?” she looked at me, still upset, and I nodded.

“Let’s go home,” I said, put my arm around her waist and walked with her.

“Yeah, I really wanna change” she mumbled.

“No, keep it” I said with a smirk and I saw her smiling too.

“Wanna take shortcuts?” she asked and pulled me to the first dark alley we saw.

Teleporting with her was like jumping, except you don’t feel the fall; she wrapped her arms around me. When I first met her she could teleport in a radio of fifty meters —she was awesome–, by now she can do over a kilometer, maybe two.

We’ve done this before and I trusted her, but it still made my legs wiggle, she kissed me with each jump, avoiding street lights, avoiding CCTVs, when we were near the building, she stopped and I felt my legs wiggling like jelly.

She mocked me but I didn’t mind; we ran to the apartment like kids running home after school, this was the kind of things that made me fall for her despite… everything. When I’m with her, the rest of the world vanishes.

We made out in the elevator and barely managed to open the door in-between all the kissing, laughing and touching. We were role-playing and she was being incredibly clumsy.

“Oh no, mister robber, please don’t hurt me with your giant… tool.”

We laughed. She was doing it on purpose, no matter how serious I tried to be, she was faking a voice, she had to be a dummy.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you but the only valuable thing in this place is me”

I gazed her body up and down. What a woman, I thought and I took my jacket off.

“So what would you do if I went to touch you now?” I aimed to touch her waist and she stepped back grinning, very professional. I bit my lip.

“Oh no, please, my husband will be back soon!” she exclaimed.

“Then I gotta hurry” I touched her arm and she teleported us to the bed, I wasn’t expecting it but kept it cool and took my shirt off, I felt her hands going up touching my abdomen, “Stay in character, honey”

“Shit, nooo, mister robber, what are you doing to me?” she said as I took her underwear down her legs.

“Enough is enough!” I couldn’t keep it together anymore, kissed her deeply, suck her tongue into my mouth while putting two fingers inside her, and massaged her clitoris with my thumb. The red dress was almost as soft as her skin.

She moaned and undid the button of my jeans. I wanted to scold her for being so bad at role-playing but it could wait ‘till morning. We had a rope in the nightstand for this kind of situations; I tied her wrists together and let my jeans fall down.

She looked at me with thirsty eyes as I put on a condom and let a sigh out when I dived deep inside her; I kept a hand down on her hips and covered her mouth with the other while licking and sucking her precious neck all the way from her collarbone to her ear.

Soon, I forgot about the role-play too, kissing her deeply while she clawed her fingers on my hips and pulled me in desperately as I pulled out; she already wanted to come. I pulled out and turned her on her stomach, she lift her ass and I dived into her again while playing with her clitoris.

She buried her face on the pillow and I left my weight fall a little on her, put my ear on her scapula and felt her taking long deep breaths. I felt her loose strength as she was coming done. I pulled out, still hard as fuck, to allow her to turn around.

“I think we ripped the dress” she sighed.

“Shit, I loved this dress”

“I could tell how much you loved it” she said when I untied her wrists and checked the hour. “If you’re getting late, let’s make it worth”

She gave me that smile she has when she’s expecting another round.

That night my pay was deducted a thirty percent, but I was so satisfied that it could’ve been completely deducted and I wouldn’t mind.

The next few days felt like a honeymoon, not only because the sex, everything was suddenly working out. I spent so many years thinking I would never fit into a normal lifestyle, obsessed about heroes and becoming the best of them... Or maybe I’m very printable, I thought.

I was obsessed with the hero’s path because my father was a hero himself. He is still a hero. Now I was living with someone that always lived a regular life and I could live like that only because of her.

“Did you ever think about becoming a hero?” I asked her. She looked at me, confused.

“We’ve had this talk before”

I remembered the first time that I saw her, she was training her quirk behind her parent’s back. She was too mad at them because her life was made since the day she was born, she didn’t have siblings like me because her mother hated being pregnant, therefore she had no voice in their house. Training her quirk at a crack house was her only rebellious phase.

That and dating me.

“How could you fall for me?” I asked.

She laughed.

“Remember that day I jumped off the roof and you screamed you loved me? You already knew I can teleport anywhere, anytime, but you were so desperate thinking I was trying to kill myself. We were messed up kids who taught ourselves how to live, how could we ever just be friends?”

That was an embarrassing memory, I really believed she was done with her life and her parent’s expectations and I ran upstairs to that roof. She jumped before my eyes and my hands couldn’t reach her, of course I was desperate and I screamed.

“You were so cute” she sipped her cup of coffee with an annoying grin.

“If you’re pregnant I’m telling that story someday”

She stared at me, blushing until her face turned all red.

“You manipulated me” I said and she laughed.

“Maybe I did” she admitted. “I liked you but I never thought you loved me”

On my day off, I went to the mall attempting to buy a coffeemaker like the one my babe had before, but of course, I couldn’t afford the exact same machine so I had to buy the next best option.

I was waiting in line to pay, when I notice the woman in front of me had white hair with red stripes. It’s not possible, I thought, chill – but I couldn’t resist myself and tried to look at her face. She noticed and looked back.

“I’m sorry” she said immediately when she made eye contact - took me by surprise, “are you in a hurry? My cart’s full, you can pass before me” she offered politely.

“I’m good” I said. That was definitely my sister.

“Okay” she said and she looked at me timidly, it made me wonder…

“What’s the matter?”

If maybe, she did recognize me.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to stare at you like that” she stuttered. “It’s just…” she looked at my black hair “that you look like someone that I miss”

She’s lying, I thought and swallowed my saliva nervously, stay calm, stay calm.

“What?” I asked.

Don’t fuck things up, do it for her.

“Someone that I knew, I meant someone that I knew,” she lied, “I’m sorry, I felt nostalgic for a moment, you can go before me, seriously,” she offered again.

“Fine” I said as I walked by her side, “thanks”

“You’re welcome” she smiled.

Not only my hair or my piercings, my voice is different, I thought, but she knows. I looked over my shoulder and she smiled.

Or maybe I’m losing my grip again. Forget it, forget them.

Back home, I questioned myself if I should place the coffeemaker as if it has always been here or if I should’ve wrapped it with a bow and all.

I called Hana and she laughed at me.

“I’m sorry, that’s so cute. I think you should place it there and count the minutes, we can make a bet about how long it will take her to notice”

“She’s a caffeine maniac, she’ll notice immediately”

“Na-uh, it’ll take her like ten minutes at least, pregnancy makes woman very absent-minded. I can see her using the French press and then…”

“What?”

“What?” she shut the fuck up.

“That thing you said about pregnancy”

There was a brief silence and she said nervously:

“Oh no! A car crashed somewhere and I need to go, bye”

I stayed standing like an idiot for a couple of minutes, staring at the coffeemaker. It wasn’t like I didn’t suspected it or I didn’t know, but the fact that Hana knew her period was late and seemed to have confirmed she was pregnant didn’t sit well.

I felt betrayed.

Searched online everything about pregnancy symptoms, I also felt curious about what to do with a newborn, I read everything I found and it was so much to handle, I felt the urge to throw up.

“I can’t do this” I said to myself while scrolling down my phone’s screen. I remembered my father. “I won’t be like him”

Rage filled in. I tried to picture it: the baby, a real baby.

What if they have my quirk?

What if they have my weakness?

I felt the urge to leave.

If they don’t have a quirk, it’d be fine.

If they have my babe’s quirk, it’d be fine.

My mind was tricking me, asphyxiating me.

I put my phone on the table and left the apartment, walked around the building, then wandered further and faster; almost running.

I saw a couple of those stupid heroes on the other side of street.

What if they want to be a hero?

I couldn’t take it anymore. I stopped walking.

“My love?” I heard her voice, but couldn’t see her. “Dabi. What are you doing here?”

I looked around, everything was numb and she appeared before me. Perfectly normal, glowing eyes looking in mine, she took my hand and intertwined our fingers.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Tell me”

She was like gravity, bringing me back down to the cold hard ground.

I can’t fuck this up, I thought. I pulled her closer to me and whispered in her ear:

“I missed you”

“I’ve got something to tell you” she whispered back.

“I’ve got a gift for you”

She smiled.

On the way home, I told her about my little trip to the mall, she listened careful; she could be strange and mad, but she always understood when it comes to me – to my family’s mess. Even though we were raised in completely different types of asylums.

“Welcome home, cheater” I said when we were walking inside the apartment, she looked at me as if I was crazy.

“What?” she asked.

“Hana told me” I crossed my arms trying to look dead serious “Is she the father?”

She realized and burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” I asked her, she was holding her stomach and covering her mouth but couldn’t hold it in.

“I’m so-I’m sorry” she laughed and laughed, completely out of control, “I was gonna get so angry if you were accusing me for real of cheating. You can be so dramatic sometimes, I love you”

“When where you gonna tell me?” I wanted to know.

“Well, you know, I was gonna walk in with a baby one day and…” I stared at her, I was done with the jokes and she saw it in my face “My love, I just found out, I swear”

“When?”

“Hana took the blood sample and she sent me a message with the results this morning, I promise you I was gonna tell you at dinner”

I gasped for air and pointed at the box in the kitchen.

“Oh my God, Dabi!” she covered her mouth and jumped in excitement like a kid, “thank you, thank you, thank you!” she hugged me before unpacking it.

She looked so happy. Then, I remember what I read about caffeine during pregnancy and tried to take it away.

“I’m returning it” I said.

“What?!”

“Caffeine isn’t good for the baby” I lifted the coffee machine when she tried to take it back from my hands, “You’re gonna settle with a cup per day from now on”

“HELL NO!”

She turned into a demon in order to take over the coffeemaker again. What did I just get into?, I thought as I found myself losing a battle to her for the first time in forever. I sat out the door in the hallway during thirty minutes until she forgave me for trying to do things right.

A week passed but I felt frozen in time, she made an appointment for an echography and I knew I had to go, I said I would, but I missed it. She didn’t say anything, she didn’t showed me anything, as if it didn’t happen.

I could feel when I’d come back from work, every time I laid in bed next to her she’d wake up and stare at me. I felt the silent pressure of her gaze and for a fortnight, there we were acting indifferent to each other. No sex, no fights, no talking.

One night after work, I was with the bartender, killing time, when our boss joined us:

“So… ho-how are you?” he asked me directly.

“Fine”

“I’ve been thinking the same thing” Haruma said, “but he doesn’t open up no matter how much whiskey I put…”

“Whiskey?” Tanaka gave him a look, discontent, tired and sighed making a sign to pour a glass for him before turning back to me “Anyway, you’ve done a decent job but lately, you’re scaring the clients – real clients, not just your target clients, it’s not good for the business”

Maybe they can relate, I thought, maybe I should let a wall down.

Our boss was expecting me to say something and Haruma was really bad at pretending he wasn’t into the conversation.

“Do you… have children?” I asked in a very low tone.

“Fuck no” the manager puffed.

“No, no, no, no” Haruma shook his head frenetically, then he asked with a childish smile “Is your girlfriend pregnant?”

I didn’t answer.

“Kids are cool, I dated a single mom once,” he continued.

“Hey, don’t say weird things” Tanaka scolded him.

“But it’s true! She was older…” Haruma started a narrative but he was too into himself that he didn’t notice no one was paying attention.

“Now I understand” my boss seemed concerned, “How do you feel about it? Shock? Sad? Wanna go and buy cigarettes?”

I looked down, he was seeing right through me.

“I should give her a call” Haruma finished his story with a longing sigh. “Hey is it true woman turn lustful when they’re pregnant?”

I gave him a cold stare and he made a face, realizing he fucked up.

“I’ve seen you picking up girls almost every night, how come you haven’t gotten anyone pregnant?” I asked him and the manager scolded him again, attempting to hit him from across the table.

“I’ve told you to stop a fucking thousand times, that’s why they never come back! You fucking piece of shit!”

“Dabi, how could you?” Haruma avoided every hit like he was used to this.

“And ain’t you married?” I addressed Tanaka, he had a wedding ring on his finger.

“Yes, to a man” he said resolute.

“I’m sorry we can’t advise you, Dabi”

“You’re on your own, kid” the manager patted my shoulder while pouring some more whiskey for himself.

“But I’m curious about something” Haruma put his face on his hand, awkwardly close to mine. “Are you in love?”

His breath hit my nose; the manager sighed and I couldn’t shut up: “I am madly in love, I cannot breath when she’s not near, I love her”

“Aww that was sweet” Haruma smiled.

“You could’ve been a detective if you’d stayed at school” the manager said to Haruma.

“Yeah, but bartending is fun” Haruma said with a sly grin. I looked at him confused, and he explained immediately: “My quirk forces people to be brutally honest. One day I asked my father why he was mean to me and he said he hated me because I killed my mom during labor”

Our boss lighted a cigarette for himself.

“You know it’s not true”

“Well I didn’t kill her, it’s not possible, but she died and he blamed me my whole life. I dropped high school and left his house, I’ve been on my own since then”

“So you’re in love, that’s why Momo couldn’t pull you up” Tanaka smiled at me, “that’s a relief, she’s the reason I had to fire the guy before you”

“That and he was also a jerk” Haruma said.

“He was tall and strong…”

“I hated him!” Haruma insisted.

“He was perfect for the job until she messed with him!”

“Then why didn’t you fire her? He was an asshole, you just can’t admit it because he’s your type!”

They started and argument and I had to leave. It was early; the daylight was clearing the streets as I was walking home. If I was so in love and if I had pictured us as a family before, why was I so nervous? Why did I feel like I could go away on my own at any given minute?

I stayed in the living room for a moment, took a bath and went back to the couch; she came out of the room and looked at me.

“Are you okay?” she asked. My body moved by itself, walked towards her and hugged her, “Did something bad happen?”

“I never asked you how you feel about this. I never asked you if you want this. I assumed you were fine because I’m here but I have no idea what’s going on or what to do to make things right”

In other words, I was an idiot.

She hugged me back, her nose snorted and I felt her crying on me as she ranted:

“I had no idea how to talk about this, I feel like a mess! I’m not doing good at my job and I can’t handle a household even when this is a smaller place. The other day I said ‘hi’ to a baby in the street and he cried! Then I cried and his mom was so nice, she comforted me when the baby stopped crying!”

She started to say unintelligible things and I just nodded and patted her back as she continued:

“What, when and how am I supposed to tell my parents? My mom is gonna bully me so hard if I cry when my own baby cries!”

She cried long and loud for good thirty minutes before getting ready for work, she used a couple of cold spoons to deflate her puffy eyes.

I was tired but I could barely sleep. I felt curious about Haruma’s quirk and how much information he could get out of anybody.

“I learned the hard way that pushing people’s boundaries is a double edge sword,” he told me. I thought it was because of his father, but he continued: “One time I took a girl home, I used to ask them what kind of stuff they like…“

He kept talking, he reminded me of Hana and despite I liked them both, I would never put them in the same room together.

“So, who is it?” he asked, “Your girlfriend?” I didn’t say anything and he smiled, “bring her one night, I’ll make some alcohol-free cocktails just for her and I’ll ask her whatever you wanna know, but… don’t resent me later”

Our boss appeared behind him and hit the back of his head.

“Don’t listen to a word he says, whatever you’re planning don’t do it” he warned us.

“Tanaka!” Haruma bawled, rubbing where he was hit.

“I heard ‘bring her’ and I don’t care who you’re talking about, you better don’t bring anyone to meet this slut man”

“Tanaka, that’s rude!” Haruma cried louder.

“Don’t be like this, Tanakun, let him bring her” Momo sat next to me, “I’m curious about the type of girl this idiot likes” She gave me a shiver “how many girlfriends did you say you’ve had?”

“I didn’t say” I said as I stood up to leave.

“See you tomorrow, Dabi!”

Haruma and our boss said goodbye, but as soon as I was walking out, I felt somebody following me. She didn’t even hide.

“Stop the stalking” I told her when she approached me.

“It’s not stalking, I’m just walking in the same direction that you are” she defended herself, but this wasn’t the first time she tried to follow me.

“Okay, walk then” I made a sign with my hand to let her pass in front of me and she smiled.

“Are you going to walk behind me? Do you like that kind of stuff, Dabi, chasing pretty girls on lonely streets?”

“There are no pretty girls in this street, just go your own way” I said as I walked back to the club, but she didn’t left me alone.

“You’ve never had another girlfriend, have you?” she asked, “Maybe you should sleep with other girls so you could see that sex isn’t a fucking big deal, you don’t have to run away from me all the time!”

I arrived and saw Haruma and Tanaka closing the door.

“Did you forget something?” Tanaka asked, but I shook my head.

“Where you going? Wanna share a taxi?” Haruma asked.

They lived in the opposite direction, but I nodded. Haruma complained a lot in the back of the taxi, he was saying it’s my fault that he had to share a taxi with Tanaka; I fell asleep.

I woke up when we arrived at Tanaka’s house. Haruma was there:

“I thought I’d have to carry you” he sighed in relief.

I tried to leave, but they didn’t let me.

“I know where you live” Tanaka said, “You’re running away from something. What is it? You forgot to collect laundry?”

Haruma laughed: “Married people are a different breed”

“We’re not married,” I said.

“Yet” Haruma said. “Oh! Tanaka, your husband”

A mutant came out of a room, a big, tall man with two pairs of arms and eyes. I tried not to stare.

“We didn’t mean to wake you up, Beanie, sorry” Tanaka said, but his husband said it was fine, they went to the kitchen and I noticed he was staring at me.

I smirked when I realized why the club’s name is Beanie and One Day.

“Do you know each other?” Haruma asked me and I denied it.

I started to receive a couple of messages from my babe.

“Don’t worry. See you at home soon” Sent.

“That’s not right” Haruma said, looking at my messages before taking over my phone, “Give me that!” he wrote something really fast and sent it, then took a picture and sent it. “Now we’re good”

My phone ringed a couple of times, Haruma read the messages and smiled pleased with himself.

Tanaka and his husband put a few plates and juice for us – his husband was drinking coffee.

“It’s good to see a new face, this never happens” his husband said politely. “What brought you here?”

“Momo” I said.

Tanaka jumped in his seat and his husband grinned.

“I told you that girl means troubles, nothing stops her ever, I knew it since she tried to mess with my nephew”

“We’ve had a long list of security guards,” Haruma told me.

“And why haven’t you fire her?” I asked Tanaka.

“Look, she’s harmless, she dances well, and she…”

“She’s an orphan” his husband interrupted, “and this guy over here has a terrible savior’s complex. Momo’s an orphan, Haruma was neglected and I suppose you…”

I nodded; he was kinda right. Tanaka exhaled:

“I’m gonna talk to her again, just give her time”

“Time for what?” Haruma asked him, “If she keeps trying to follow him she’s gonna do something stupid, you know her”

“Well, if I fire her she will come back as a client”

“Why she doesn’t cause you any trouble?” I asked Haruma.

“Oh, she likes tough guys and I’m a cinnamon roll”

Beanie laughed, squeezed Haruma’s cheek and said:

“It’s not just that, she likes to break her favorite toys”

“Here we go again” Tanaka rolled his eyes.

“I hate to say ‘I told you so’, but you know I’m right” He finished his breakfast, “Listen, she doesn’t just wants to hook around, she likes breaking hearts, she likes to make guys obsessed with her and dump them like trash”

Haruma put his arm around my shoulders and pointed at my face.

“The thing with this guy is that he’s already obsessed with someone”

“Oh, a challenge, she hasn’t have to deal with someone in love before” Tanaka’s husband analyzed me, looking somewhat pleased.

“You should go to work, honey,” Tanaka said.

“Sure, I’m leaving, but I wanna know something first” he said and looked at me, “what’s your girlfriend like?”

Haruma smiled and asked too:

“Yeah, what is she like, Dabi?”

It hit me again; I recognized it this time, I immediately bursted out a ton of cheesy compliments about her image — like her captivating sparkly eyes, contagious laugh— and personality —how kind she is and tough at the same time. I felt exhausted when I was done and had to take a deep breath.

Beanie and Haruma seemed extremely satisfied. Tanaka looked at me worried. For myself, I think I fainted after that.

Suddenly, I was at my birth house.

I heard mom humming in the kitchen, Fuyumi was helping her to make dinner, I could smell it; Natsu crossed the front door and greeted me.

“When did you get here?” Natsu patted my back when he walked by.

“Touya, help us set the table” Fuyumi told me from the kitchen’s door. Mom smiled at me, behind her:

“Touya! Welcome home!”

I tried to reach them, I really tried, but the room stretched as Natsu, Fuyumi and mom stared at me from afar.

“Did you go to Sekoto Peak again, Touya?”

That man, my father, was by my side wearing a frown and the house disappeared and turned to the forest.

The forest was on fire, my blue fire, and my babe was standing there. I called her name but nothing came out of my mouth so I screamed – still nothing - and the flames embraced her but she didn’t move.

A bucket of cold water hit me and woke me up; Tanaka and Haruma were standing in front of me.

“What the fuck were you dreaming?!” Tanaka asked.

“Dude, your face!” Haruma looked at me terrified.

I touched my face, it was hot, and I used my phone’s camera to see the damage: a mark of burnt skin appeared around my collarbone. It wasn’t that bad.

“You seem to be used to burning yourself, it doesn’t hurt?”

“I am used to this, a friend fixed my face a couple of months ago” I sighed when I realized Hana was gonna kick me.

“A couple of months, then your girlfriend has seen you like this,” Tanaka mumbled.

“So we don’t have to worry about her getting back at us” Hamura sighed in relief, Tanaka looked at him in disapproval.

“Watch your words”

“It’s fine” I said, “Thank you… for everything”

“Thank you for not burning yourself to death”

“Tanaka, don’t say that!”

“I’ve done worse. I need to go home” I said.

Tanaka invited me to eat first and brought a burn cream for me; after that Haruma and I left, we were walking side by said when he started talking:

“Hey, about your thing with Momo…”

“I don’t have a thing…”

“My bad! It was a poor choice of words, but I wanted to let you know, she’s not like that. That thing Tanaka’s lovey dovey said before... Momo likes to make guys fall for her, but she’s scared of commitment.”

“So what?”

“I thought you could trick Momo into thinking you’d dump your girlfriend for her, you don’t have to go all the way with her. Just pretend she caught your eye, take her to the movies…”

“No”

“Well, it’s respectable. See you later!”

In the subway, I thought about inviting an iced coffee to my babe, so I took my phone to send a message and read all the stupid messages Haruma sent her.

“Hi hi, this is Haruma, a friend from work your fluffy-haired boyfriend made, he’s with me and our boss right now, we’re having a little reunion but don’t worry, we’ll return him later, safe and sound - pinky promise” Sent. Right after my last text.

“If he’s not friendly, why friendly shaped?” Sent, with a blurred picture.

“Hello, Haruma, thank you for taking care of him.” Read.

“Have fun” Read.

“Sorry, we broke him.” Sent with a picture of me sleeping on the couch.

“LOL, send me another please” Read.

[PIC][PIC][PIC][+7 PICs] Sent.

“TYSM♡” Read.

It’s like they’re speaking another language, I thought.

Then I remembered what I dreamed and tried to take it off my mind, but I couldn’t. I was just entering our neighborhood when she called me, except she wasn’t the person on the other side of the line.

A police officer introduced himself and explained a fucked up situation:

She was at the police station. There was an illegal use of her quirk. She caused a public disturbance. She had a verbal fight with a hero.

Each sentence the officer said was more ridiculous than the previous one, then he mentioned a car accident and I lost it.

At that moment, I wish I could teleport like her, but the only thing I could do was take a taxi. When I arrived, she was sitting in front of an officer’s desk, he was yelling something at her and she was quiet, just taking it.

“If she was in an accident why are you yelling at her?!” I yelled at the officer, she looked at me and jumped up, there were no visible injuries or scratches; the officer stood up too and a couple more hurried as if we were gonna fight.

“Is this your husband?” he yelled at her again, as if I wasn’t there.

“You bet I am!” I walked furious towards them.

“What the fuck did you tell him?” she asked him upset.

“What happened?” I wanted to hear it from her, but the officer didn’t let her talk.

“She caused a public disturbance when she verbally fought with a hero that was about to save a kid…”

“I already told you that is not what happened!” she exclaimed, absolutely mad, “that dickhead hero caused the car accident right after I saved the kid, check the goddamn CCTVs!”

“What hero?” I asked.

“Nobody important” she said calmly and turned back to the officer, “there were eyewitnesses and you, the goddamn police! Just took the hero’s word for granted! Fucking inefficient!”

He wrote something while shaking his head, I felt the urge to burn everything down but I looked at her, she was mad but she looked fine.

“Should I take you to the hospital?” I asked her but she refused.

“You can’t go anywhere until you pay the bail,” said the officer and pissed me off, I wanted to burn him to ashes.

“You should’ve start there” she reproached him with fire in her eyes, pulling her wallet out of her purse.

“And you still owe an apology to Beast Arms”

“He’s the one who should be apologizing!” she complained, “that fucking beast almost killed somebody”

She was distressed; it was all over her face. When we walked out of the police station, I hugged her and she cuddled, her scent filled my nose and I patted her back.

“I fucking hate heroes” she complained, “this was all his fault”

“Today was a long day for the both of us” I whispered. She touched my collarbone.

“I noticed,” she whispered back.

“What happened?” I still wanted to hear it from her.

“I was walking home and I saw a kid running, he crossed the street at a red light and I just teleported to get him and teleported back to the sidewalk with him. Out of nowhere, that dumbass hero jumped at the same time we appeared back in the sidewalk, and he didn’t just stopped the car, he crashed it! Can you believe it?! And it wasn’t just that car, the one behind it and another crashed too! It was madness! And the idiot looked around and saw me with the kid crying and addressed me as if I did something wrong, he jumped in too hard he could’ve smashed the poor kid!”

“Why was the kid crying?”

“He was trying to catch his puppy, that’s the worst part! I didn’t see the puppy, I just took the kid back to the sidewalk and the hero was yelling at me and I saw the poor thing lying dead in the middle of the street, so I yelled back at that stupid piece of shit! He’s supposed to be trained, he’s supposed to see the whole situation before jumping in to action, he could’ve save the puppy, but noooo!”

She kept ranting and moving her hands in the air and I was so enchanted by how much she depreciated that hero that I wished it was Endeavor the one that stood in her way. I would’ve killed to see the old man being reprehended by her in front of a crowd.

She was so into it that she didn’t notice I was taking her to the hospital to make sure she and the baby were fine. That night I saw for the first time an echography, the doctor said everything was normal but I felt like an idiot because I saw nothing on the screen.

They both laughed at me.

“It’s always hard for new parents, especially the dads” the doctor said, she was really nice, “I’m gonna show you something cool”

Suddenly Hana came in.

“Hi there! Whatchu doin?” She saluted playful as usual, but her eyes looked tired.

“Hana, shh” the doctor shushed her and my babe waved her hand.

A sound filled the room, it started as a numb beat and then it cleared… my babe closed her eyes and the doctor smiled. Hana covered her mouth with one hand and put the other on my arm while jumping in excitement.

“That’s your baby’s heartbeats,” she whispered but she probably wanted to scream.

I felt something warm in my chest, something I wasn’t able to put in words but it compared to the day I made blue flames, it filled me with joy somehow. I wished it would last forever.