The past has a terrible way of sneaking up on a person when they least expect it. It usually happens when they're at their most vulnerable, already hurting from a new trauma. Melina dreamed a tragic nightmare, reliving the most painful night of her life.
The oppressive heat surrounded her like a suffocating blanket. Melina felt like she was melting. But that was summer in the South. Reaching up to wipe away the sweat, she realized there was none. Her forehead was dry. Something was wrong. This was a different kind of heat. She couldn't breathe.
Opening her eyes, red and yellow light danced all around her. Flames. The wall was on fire. Startled into wakefulness but hopelessly confused, she sat up and threw her feet over the side of the bed. She quickly pulled them back when the fire on the floor singed her toes.
White smoke floated at the ceiling like a cloud. The air grew thick, black smoke billowing from the hallway into her room. The soot filled her nose and lungs making her choke. The acrid smoke stung her eyes and made them tear but the heat of the fire dried them before they could run down her cheeks. Surrounded by fire and smoke, she became disoriented. Panicked, not knowing which way to run, she didn't move from the bed.
"MELINA!" her mother screamed.
"Mom! Mom!" she hollered back.
The doorway of her bedroom was a ring of fire as her mother burst through with a blanket over her head.
"Melina, come on! We gotta hurry, baby!" Her mother grabbed her by the arm pulling her from the bed that had begun to smoke as the mattress caught fire from the flames underneath.
"Wait! My book!" she shrieked, breaking free of her mother's grip to turn back to the bed.
Melina reached under her pillow to retrieve the poetry book her grandmother had given to her. As her fingers contacted the book, flames shot out from the side of her mattress catching her nightgown on fire. The nylon material separated and melted like plastic wrap, gluing itself to her skin. The flames licked her skin like a hungry beast tasting its prey. A smell like grilled meat assaulted her nose. She was burning.
"Melina!" Her mother seized her by the hair and pulled her under the damp blanket, burning her own hands as she patted out the flames.
The blanket gave limited protection from the raging fire and was quickly drying from the heat as they ran down the hall. They ran blindly through the fire surrounding them on either side. However, they easily navigated the hall they knew so well after many late night trips to the kitchen to sate a case of the midnight munchies. They were running for the back door; the easiest and closest escape route.
Wood cracked and buckled, the walls caving in behind them. Sparks swirled around their feet like deadly fireflies. Their parched lungs filling with smoke, forcing them to cough in order to eject the poisoned air. Never before had the hallway seemed so long. Melina saw the split brick of the kitchen floor under her feet. Almost there. Usually the bricks were cold, even in summer, but they were like heated lava rocks at the moment.
At the door, her mother threw off the dry blanket that had become more of a hindrance than a help. She flung open the door, both of them stumbling outside onto the cement back porch.
"LOOK OUT! STOP! STOP!" someone shouted.
But it was too late. Melina would never forget the next sound she heard. The roar of rushing water like a thousand ocean waves converging and crashing onto shore simultaneously. A wide wide jet of water was coming straight at them.
Melina began falling after her mother shoved her forward. She fell onto all fours into the grass off to the side of the small cement back porch. Glancing back at the door, she saw the tube of water hit her mother in the stomach, flinging her back into the inferno from which she had just escaped.
"NO! NO!" Melina screamed, attempting to jump to her feet to run back in.
"No, don't!" a fireman yelled, grabbing her around the waist.
"Let me go! Let me go!" she shrilled, fighting him.
Melina was pulled away and sat down in the grass, the man's arm encompassing her waist to keep her from running back into the fully engulfed house. It was then she saw the so called hero dressed in fireman gear with a water cannon for an arm standing dumbstruck.
His eyes were round as the full moon above, his face just as white, as he stared ahead stupidly with his mouth hanging open. His arms hung limply at his sides. Water dripped in a steady rivulet from the spigot of the water cannon arm.
"Son of a - ," she attempted to scream at him but a coughing fit cut her off.
"What the hell happened?" a short, extremely angry fireman in a black helmet shouted at the quirk user. He grabbed him by the lapels of his heavy fire proof jacket, shaking him. "What the fuck did you do?
"All of a sudden she was just...THERE!" he yelled back, probably unintentionally. "I was going to clear a path to go in. Then she appeared out of nowhere! I couldn't stop it!"
"YOU IDIOT!" the shorter man bellowed, jerking the other man around like a dog with a bone.
"Chief!" another fire fighter called, appearing from around the corner of the house. "We found the father. He was hurled through the master bedroom window by a backdraft. Probably when they opened the back door. He's dead, sir."
"Oh, my god, that poor girl," muttered the man in the black helmet, obviously the Chief.
She was all alone. Everyone was dead. Had they really accidentally killed her father by causing a backdraft? Her mother would have survived, but she was killed by the man who was supposed to be saving them.
Melina whimpered and began to cry. "Mama! MAMA!"
Despite being fifteen, no longer a small child, she cried out for her mother nonetheless.
~\..'../~
Melina awoke with a start. She groaned, carefully unrolling from the protective ball she had slept in. Stretching her stiff arms and legs as far as they could go, parts of her body dropped into gouged out places devoid of foam and then raised up spots where the torn foam had piled up. Rolling up in the blanket she had thrown over the wasted bed to sleep, she put off getting up to face the day.
She kept her eyes closed because they stung as if acid had been poured into them after crying so much. Her throat was dry as a sun bleached bone. Her entire body felt as limp and lifeless as a wrung out cloth. However, there was no time to wallow in her misery. The time for mourning had come and gone.
Melina whimpered as she forced her aching body to a sitting position. What to do first? Prying her crusty eyes open, she scanned the room. What a mess. Although she had no clean clothes to change into, she went to take a shower.
After her shower, still wrapped in a towel, she dug through the pile of clothes that had become cloth confetti to see if there might be something salvageable. Whoever did this had done so with passionate intent, expressing their anger and hate. Not only did they enjoy the act of destruction, they had a personal stake in the matter as if they were taking revenge for some perceived wrong done to them. Tearing her poetry book to shreds was the icing on the destruction cake to inflict the most emotional damage possible. Whoever did this wanted to hurt her and hurt her badly.
"Who? Why?" she asked herself out loud, allowing bits of lace to fall through her fingers. That shredded fabric was once a pair of underwear.
All of her sexy underwear and nightwear had been obliterated with extreme savagery. Then there was the furious annihilation of the bed. Dabi acted as if had no knowledge of what had taken place at her apartment. Maybe he didn't, but the act had been perpetrated by someone close to him who also knew her. This was no random attack. This was personal. Most likely someone who had a romantic interest in him.
"Himiko Toga," Melina hissed out loud. "You hateful little bitch."
Melina redressed in her yellow t-shirt and overall dress. First order of business: shopping. But before shopping 'til she dropped, she needed retrieve something vitally important.
Going to the rooftop, she greeted her bees. Their hypnotic humming soothed her, sending therapeutic vibrations through her body as they landed on her arms and skittered around. She pulled a frame from the beehive, carefully peeling back the warm beeswax. Most of the cells were full of honey. Harvesting would need to be done soon. Taking another frame from the box, she peeled back the corner of the soft wax, careful not to hurt the few bees who still gathered there.
"I'm sorry," she apologized, gently nudging them out of the way with her fingertip.
Digging down into the comb with her forefinger, ripping apart the cells, honey oozed down her hand and dripped off her wrist onto the AstroTurf covering the roof. Finally, she withdrew the key she had hidden there. Second order of business: go to the bank to the safe deposit box.
~\..'../~
Melina sat in the fenced in, open air patio of the cafe, absentmindedly stirring her coffee. It was a beautiful day, and she wanted to sit in the sun. She had stopped here for a much needed bit of rest and refreshment. Department store bags full of clothes sat piled at her feet, surrounding her chair. She had worn one of her new outfits out of the store since she needed a fresh change of clothes.
The helpful salesgirl had kindly disposed of her other clothes. She wouldn't be needing them anymore. They no longer fit her new life. Unable to find anything close to her preferred vintage style of clothing, she had no choice but to take a different approach to her fashion choices. So she decided to go in a completely different direction not only in style but color and pattern as well. Bees love flowers and bright colors so she used that as her inspiration.
Melina wore a short, sleeveless, baby pink dress with ruffles down the front,the entire frock covered in purple and magenta petunias. A definite departure from her usual style in every way. The saleswoman assured her that not only was the dress flattering, but one of their prettiest new arrivals for the spring season. When the sales associate suggested a pair of hot pink strappy heels with a big, hot pink, chrysanthemum like flower on the toes to match, she had to have them. Heels were a must. Granny said so. That part of her fashion sense she could not let go.
She also had a cosmetic make over. Might as well change everything about her look. Her make up was light, natural. No more cat eye eyeliner or blood red lips. Thin wisps of brown eyeliner and a light brownish pink lipstick that matched the actual color of her lips was all she wore. She had even changed her hair: pulling up the front, clasping it to the top of her head with a pretty barrette decorated with molded metal flowers while leaving the back loose to flow down her back.
Melina took a sip of her iced matcha bubble tea. She had never drank one before today. The chewy 'bubbles' were kinda weird but fun. She usually ordered plain coffee with real cream. Sometimes with a drizzle of honey. She had also ordered a chocolate croissant which she scarfed down in a matter of seconds. That was a first too, and it was excellent. Expanding her food and drink choices might as well be a thing too.
Sitting back in her chair, she sighed wearily. Reinventing oneself, starting over at the beginning, was tiring work. There was still so much to do. Opening the small notebook with violets on the hard cover, she added this place and the drink to her list of new favorite things. She also added furniture shopping to her every growing to do list. Tapping the pen to her bottom lip as she stared at the page, she tried to think of any other pressing matters that needed to be tended to.
"Hello," someone said on the other side of black iron fence.
Melina glanced up from her book to see a boy with red and white hair, his bi colored eyes focused on her face. The boy from the flower shop.
"Oh, hi," she returned, closing the notebook and slipping it back into one of the shopping bags.
"Do you remember me?" he inquired.
"Of course I do. The flower shop right?" She had to admit he looked a little different today in a school uniform rather than the casual black jeans and a white button down shirt he was wearing the last time she saw him.
"My mom loved the bouquet, by the way. Thanks again," he said politely.
"You're very welcome. Flowers are kinda my thing," she laughed lightly.
"So I noticed," he rejoined, giving her a quick once over from head to toe.
He's a little young to be checking me out like that, she thought to herself. She smiled at him with forced politeness when his eyes rested on hers on their way back up.
"I almost didn't recognize you. You look so...," he hesitated as if searching for the right word,"different."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Melina asked curiously, unsure as to what exactly he meant. She wasn't sure if he was simply inquisitive or covertly perverted.
"A good thing," he assured her. "I like the new look. So what else is your thing besides flowers?"
"I'm a beekeeper. I make my own cosmetics as well."
"They're sold at the flower shop right?" he questioned her.
"Yes," she replied, mildly alarmed and extremely suspicious. Boys his age weren't usually that attentive to details. Especially about things like make up or women in flower shops. "How very observant of you."
"I saw you talking to the shop owner as you unpacked them that day. Plus the girls in my class love them so I know about that stuff whether I want to or not. And I have a sister."
Was he a mind reader too since he felt the need to explain how he knew about that? Perhaps it was her expressive face. Granny had warned her never to play poker because she had a face that could be read like a book.
"Would you like something to drink?" Melina offered.
"No, thanks. I'm on my way to see my mom again. I thought I'd say hello and thank you."
"Do you need help with another bouquet?"
"Do you have time? You look busy today," he said, nodding toward the bags at her feet.
"I can make time," she offered,"but you'll have to help me carry these."
"I can definitely help you with those," he said when she bent down to gather them.
The florist's shop was just a little further down the block. Besides, she was going to get a cab anyway so it could be taken from there just as easily.
"I'm Melina Zusa," she introduced herself as they walked along with full hands.
"Shoto Todoroki," he replied in kind, giving her his name.
"Nice to meet you, Todoroki," Melina returned, smiling at him. "Now, about that bouquet, one question...how many siblings do you have?"
"Your thought process is so bizarre," he sighed, opening the shop door for her. "But it works. I have three. Although I don't really know anything about my oldest brother."
Melina noticed the way his face immediately collapsed. She knew that look. Hurt and disappointment with a tinge of aggravation. Hurt from not being able to change a painful circumstance, disappointment that he had said too much. He was irritated with himself for the overshare. She knew it well because she had done that many times herself.
They stood in front of the cooler of cut flowers. She put down her bags to pick out a dozen red carnations and four white miniature roses. The tiny, smooth edged white rosebuds stood out in beautifully sharp contrast to the backdrop of dramatic crimson red flowers with the ruffled petals.
"As I'm sure you've guessed, the roses will represent the four of you," she explained. Without thinking, she reached out to stroke his cheek just under the scar. "Her babies."
"Uhm...yeah," he mumbled, his eyes narrowing and sliding away from hers.
She immediately retracted her hand when his face reddened, matching his scar and making it disappear into the background of red. She could feel her face growing warm with embarrassment.
"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I do forget my manners sometimes."
"Thanks for your help," he said in way that distinctly sounded like a hint for her to be on her way.
Now look here buddy, you asked for my help, otherwise I wouldn't have come here, she wanted to sass back in self-defense but decided to take the out from the awkward situation instead of arguing with an embarrassed teenager.
Melina lay the half made bouquet on the nearby table. The shop keeper could finish it. She picked up her bags, hooking the ones with long handles over her shoulders so she could grab the short handled ones from him. Her fingers grazed his while making the exchange which made him flinch away from her.
"So when will I see you again?" he asked.
Is he being serious? She glared hotly at him. The red coloration of his face deepened to crimson making the scar stand out.
"You know, to help with bouquets."
"Oh, don't you worry. I'll pop up again when you least expect it, Todoroki."
~\..'../~
Melina followed the bank manager, holding the key tightly between her thumb and forefinger. They walked down the austere marble hallway to a room full of massive gun metal gray cabinets housing individual lock boxes of all sizes. He led her down the main aisle between the rows and rows of metal boxes where people stored birth certificates, jewelry, stock certificates, and who knows what else that they deemed valuable.
The individual boxes in each cabinet grew in size and lessened in number as they advanced past each row. At last, they reached the last row where each box was about the size of a steamer trunk. There was only nine boxes to a cabinet on these rows. Hers was located in the bottom corner against the wall. There was a long table in the middle of the row between the safe deposit boxes should she need to place her items there for sorting and choosing. That would not be necessary. She knew exactly what she had come for.
"Miss?" the prim and proper manager said to get her attention.
Melina set all of her shopping bags down on the floor beside the drawer. They would come in handy for carrying the items she retrieved. She readied her key as he pulled his key from the small pocket on his vest meant for a pocket watch. A chain sewn to a loop on his vest was attached to the key. Inserting his key, he turned it, unlocking one of the dual key locks. He waited for her to insert her key to unlock the other pin lock on the drawer. Giving her a nod of acknowledgement, he left, to allow her to input her numerical code into the metal number pad attached to the drawer.
Customers were allowed privacy to complete the final step and open their safe deposit boxes. Although her poetry book that held the coded combination had been completely decimated, she knew the poem by heart that would enable her to unlock it. Her grandmother had recited it to her every night for years so it was ingrained in her memory like the ABC song. The numbers for the combination coordinated to the number of letters in her five favorite words from the poem. The red light on the box blinked three times then went off and the green one lit up. A pop signaled the final lock had disengaged. She lifted the door to retrieve the three things she came for.
She pulled out a soft, square parcel wrapped in brown paper and string. Lifting up a pile of silk tops in a rainbow of pastel colors, she slid the package underneath. Then she picked up a long cylinder wrapped in black leather resembling a map tube and placed it diagonally in the largest shopping bag. The top still poked out so she draped a thin lavender sweater over it to camouflage it. Lastly, she pulled out one of six square boxes that looked like a jewelry box for a necklace. She hid it in a third bag.
After securing the door, Melina typed in the code again, the green light turned off and the red one flashed back on. After sliding the bolt back into place with her key, she hit the call button, the raised white button in the middle of the table, to request the manager to come back in. After observing him engaging the final lock, she followed him back out of the vault. Not a word passed between them as he walked her to the front door.
"Thank you for your business, Miss Zusa," he said, holding the door open for her.
They bowed to each other respectfully.
"No, thank you, sir. I'm so glad I can count on you to keep my precious items safe."
The bank manager walked her to the sidewalk, even waving down a cab for her. He opened the door for her when the car stopped. He sure did know how to treat a customer.
"What's the address, ma'am?" the cab driver inquired.
Oh, my god! I have no idea where I'm going, she realized suddenly.
Melina couldn't go back to her apartment. The place was still wrecked. However, she had no plans for moving. She wasn't going to let anyone frighten her away from the place she called home. Besides, where else would she be able to keep her bees?
The cleaners were coming tomorrow. It would take at least three days to clean up that mess from hell so she needed another to place to stay temporarily until the cleaning was done.
"Can you suggest a hotel?" she asked the driver. "A really nice one. Perhaps with a spa. I need somewhere quiet...and safe...to relax."
"I know just the place."
~\..'../~
Melina gaped at the ten story structure of glossy black stone and shiny reflective glass that soared into the sky. She had dreamed about places like this as a child and had seen them in movies as a teenager. Now here she was in the lap of luxury as an adult. All of this was made possible from the proceeds of the wrongful death suit against the fire department and hero association who were forced to take responsibility for their hero's massive screw up. If given the choice, she would much rather have had her mother than all of the money in the world.
Melina was checked into an executive suite. The man at the front desk called the in house spa for her so she could get right in for a treatment. A woman in a pink uniform that reminded her of hospital scrubs met her at the front desk to lead her to the place of pampering while her bags were loaded onto a gold and maroon baggage cart to be taken up to her room.
The spa had a very touristy, extremely standard appearance, but it had a fantastically relaxing and tranquil atmosphere. Frosted glass walls that offered privacy yet a sense of openness. Small tables occupied almost every corner. Burning incense, a bamboo plant, and/or a tiny fountain sat on top of each table.
All of the women wore the same pink uniform. They bowed and smiled and giggled - a lot. Melina didn't mind. It added a joyful vibe to the place. She needed all the joy she could get. Requesting the works without even knowing what that entailed, she knew wanted it all for maximum relaxation. All of it had to be good since this was a spa, a place for being catered to and absolutely spoiled.
First she was treated to a shower, complete with an assistant clad in a pink one piece swimsuit that washed her hair and scrubbed her body, even exfoliating her feet and elbows. That was pretty weird but the height of indulgence to not have to lift a finger to wash her own body. The last time that happened she was about two.
A bath followed. There she could soak her cares away in the steaming water. Alone thankfully. However, she was interrupted a few times by the ladies bringing her bottles of water or refilling her sake. She did not mind the interruptions at all.
After the bath, feeling clean and tipsy, she was led to a room with a padded table covered with a sheet. There she received a forty five minute, head to toe massage. A loud exhale ejected from her mouth when the little woman on her back pushed her hands along both sides of Melina's spine towards her head as if to push out any unwanted feelings or negativity. Her muscles felt liquefied. Her body was so relaxed she was sure her bones had softened into jelly.
The final part of the treatment had come. Sitting in a puffy white lounge chair, a seaweed mask on her face, one woman painted her fingernails while another painted her toenails, and a third plied her with more sake. Ah, yes! She could get used to this. She had never received so much coddling and spoiling in her entire life.
Melina wondered why she hadn't done this for herself sooner. The fire department and the hero association paid well. They had to after one of their members fucked up so catastrophically as to kill a woman who would have otherwise survived the fire they were meant to save her from. Bitterness was like bad taste in her mouth. She just couldn't escape the past today.
"Is everything okay?" asked the woman handing her a full cup of sake.
"I'm fine." She realized she was crying. "Is it time to remove the mask? I need to go to my room. I'm not feeling well."
"Yes, ma'am. Be careful of your nails. They're still wet. You may wear the robe to your room."
"Thank you."
Melina was also given a pair of terry cloth slippers to wear. They women offered to send her clothes to the hotel laundry for cleaning to be returned to her room tomorrow. Sure, why not?
Once in her open plan suite, Melina lay down on the king size canopy bed surrounded by sheer white curtains that had been pulled back and tied to each of the four posters at the corners. She really did feel like a queen in this bed. Rolling up into a ball, she closed her eyes.
"Don't think, don't think," she chanted. "Just relax. Enjoy the here and now. Let go of the past."
Too many memories from the past had come to mind, triggered by the trauma of the break in and subsequent trashing of her apartment. She had never felt so violated, so frightened. But since she had deduced the identity of the culprit, she no longer felt fear - only rage. Himiko Toga had no idea what fresh new hell awaited her, but that would have to wait for another day. Melina had more important things to do at the moment like putting the pieces of her life back together.
A gurgle and growl erupted from her tummy. Oh, so hungry! It had been a long busy day. She needed food. Room service! She had always wanted to order room service. After getting her belly full, she might be able to go to sleep.
Taking the menu out of the bedside table drawer, Melina studied her choices. There was traditional Japanese food but there were also culinary offerings from all over the world. This place was great!
She ordered a cheese and bread platter, fresh fruit and chocolate sauce, salmon sushi, steak, fettucine alfredo, and two bottles of wine. Why not? Sometimes life just called for eating and drinking one's emotions away.
Rummaging through her shopping bags, she found the royal purple negligee she had bought; an ankle length silk gown with a lace top. It covered less than the robe so pulled the robe back on for modesty purposes until after her food was delivered.
She stacked the books she had purchased on the glass topped coffee table in the living room area of her suite. None of them would replace her poetry book, but she needed them. They were necessary at the moment.
Sitting down on the couch, she opened the novel relishing the crack of the glue breaking in the spine: the sound of a book being opened for the first time. Romance novels weren't usually her thing, but she wanted a distraction. It would be a nice change of pace to read about someone whose relationship does work out. Or they at least get to have great sex.
Five pages in, the protagonists finally meet: a hard headed, independent female lawyer and the handsome murder suspect she would be defending. Naturally. So hokey and overdone, but that was part of the fun. She could get lost in the absurdity so far removed from her reality.
Melina had just finished the first chapter when there was a knock on the door of her suite. Yay! Food!
"Come in," she called, not wanting to get up. Without looking up from her book, she waved toward the table between the kitchenette and balcony entrance. "You can just put it over there. Thank you."
"As you wish, ma'am," he responded dutifully.
Melina suddenly couldn't see the words. She recognized that voice. Slowly lifting her eyes to peer over the top of her book, she saw Dabi standing there in a hotel employee uniform.
"Are you kidding me?!" she yelled, throwing her book at him.
Dabi caught it, slamming it shut to contain the flapping pages that made it look like bird attempting to fly away. Melina stood up and walked around to the backside of the couch to put it and the coffee table between them.
"How the hell did you find me?" she demanded, her voice raspy from the constriction of her throat.
"I have my ways." He shrugged nonchalantly, shoving his hands into the pockets of his pilfered hotel uniform.
"Did you kill the poor room service guy? God, Dabi he was just doing his job."
"No. I didn't kill him. He's out cold in the service corridor. He'll have a hell of a headache when he wakes up, but he'll be fine," he assured her.
"Why are you here?" she asked, putting her hand on her hip.
"Why do you think?" he scoffed, moving toward her. "I came to see you...to make sure you're okay."
"I'm fine...no thanks to you or your friend Toga," she said, backing away when he came around the corner of the couch.
"I didn't know that was going to happen. I didn't know Shigaraki gave orders to - "
"It doesn't matter." She retreated further when he advanced.
"Why do you keep running away from me?" he asked, holding out his hands as if to show her he meant her no harm.
"You terrify me," she answered bluntly.
"You're not afraid of me. You're not afraid of anything," he snorted with a smidge of contempt. "Last night, you were afraid. Hurt. Suffering. I can't see any of that in your eyes now."
"How much is a person expected to handle before they break?" Melina questioned him. "That's not a rhetorical question. I'm asking you. How much?"
"I don't know. You've been broken before." He reached out. "You're strong."
"Even steel breaks under enough pressure."
Melina did not move. She held his eyes as he touched her shoulder. The thick robe prevented her from being able to feel his fingertips. Untying the belt, wiggling out of the garment, she allowed it to fall to the carpeted floor. Her gaze never broke from his. His fingers grasped her upper arm, digging into her skin to hold her tightly in case she decided to back away again. His fingers hurt, but she wouldn't tell him.
"Being broken made you beautiful," he murmured.
"Being broken again has made me angry," she returned quickly.
His eyes glided down her body. "I like that color. What happened to all of the black?"
Is he kidding right now?, she thought to herself. If he can divert the conversation, so can I.
"Did you know that bees are actually quite docile? They don't sting people for no reason. All they want to do is buzz around, collect pollen and nectar, make honey...you know, do their thing...live their lives." She reached up, gliding her fingers along the edges of the double breasted collar of the stereotypical hotel employee uniform. "They won't hurt you at all unless they feel threatened. If you swat at them, hurt them, or attack their home, they will defend themselves. It's never a good idea to make bees angry. Sometimes, I think they're capable of vengeance. Only the females have stingers. Did you know that?"
"What are you - "
Melina seized fistfuls of the collar, pulling him forward. She kissed his cheek, her lips brushing the corner of his mouth.
"Your friend Himiko Toga has made me very, very angry, Dabi," she warned him. "Anger can be a great motivator."
Not letting go of the collar, she dragged him toward the bed and up the three steps of the platform it was sitting on. Shoving him onto the bed, she straddled his hips.
"Have I made you angry?" he asked, sitting up and coming eye level to her breasts. His voice almost sounded hopeful.
"Yes. I have a different punishment in mind for you," she said, grasping fistfuls of the jacket in her hands.
Melina ripped open the jacket, sending the plastic buttons flying. She began pushing the jacket down his arms, and he happily assisted with helping her remove it. Repeating the same maneuver with the white button down shirt he was wearing, she took it off of him as well.
His hands pushed under the skirt of her gown, gathering it up to her hips. Since she wasn't wearing underwear, as soon as she freed his erection from his pants he was inside of her. They both cried out in pleasure and sheer relief, both finally getting what they wanted but had avoided for so long in one frustrating tease after another.
Melina enclosed his shoulders with her arms to hold him close. She yelped when his hands grasped her ass giving both cheeks a hearty squeeze. Her behind was still sore, a bruise having formed from the bite.
"Sorry," he apologized. "Why are you doing this?"
"Can you think of a better way to get rid of anger and frustration?" she asked, pistoning her body up and down.
She pushed him into her with forceful thrusts. Hate sex.
"Do you hate me?" he asked, holding the back of her head to make her look at him she impaled herself on top of him.
Well...she didn't exactly hate him but he still wasn't favorite person in the world at the moment. Angry sex might be a better term.
"I don't hate you," Melina confessed, stroking his cheek with her fingertips. "But I don't trust you."
"Then why - " His words were halted by a chaste, closed mouth kiss on his lips.
"I don't have to trust you to fuck you," she huffed, driving him deep inside of her. "Stop talking. Or I'll kiss you deeply, and you won't remember a thing."
"You're a cold, cruel woman."
"But that's two of the things you like about me."
"You're not wrong."
Since he could not kiss her, his mouth went to her neck, covering her throat and chest with kisses. He removed his hand from her sensitive butt cheek, pulling the strap of her gown and peeling down the lacy front to gain access to her breast as she bobbed on top of him.
"Oh, Dabi," she gasped when his tongue lapped over her nipple.
Her movements changed in favor of slowly rocking her hips back and forth so he could lightly suck on her nipple. She ground her pubis against his to provide extra stimulation as he nibbled the stiff but sensitive protuberance in his mouth. Her fingers raked through his hair, pulling gently but firmly.
Dabi released her nipple with a pop when the suction broke. He flopped back onto the bed in a prone position. His hands rested on the curve of her hips, his long fingers extending across her back. He raised his hips, pushing upwards to meet her vigorous thrusts.
"Melina," he murmured. "You feel so good."
"Anger isn't always a bad thing...is it?"
She leaned forward, bracing her hands on his chest. Rotating her hips while moving up and down, she shoved herself forward savagely to create the most amount of friction with each bump against his pubic bone. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the pure carnal sensation, experiencing each ripple of bliss to its fullest. The delightful pressure deep inside her continued to build and build. At this rate, she would come soon.
"Melina," Dabi gasped before he sat up again, enclosing her in a tight embrace. He nestled his face between her breasts, his hot breath blowing across her cool skin in puffs as he came.
"Mmmm," she hummed, resting her cheek alongside his. "My turn."
She met the irregular thrusts of him riding out his orgasm, allowing them to push her along to her blissful end. Placing her lips next to his ear, she called his name several times as she rose to the apex of her orgasm.
They sat entwined in each others arms, panting hard to steady their ragged breathing. Once her heartbeat returned to a normal rhythm, she stood up from his lap. She walked away, going to the cart to inspect the food. She was hungrier than ever.
"You should go," she told him, icicles in her voice.
"Wow, you really are a heartless bitch," he said, zipping and buttoning his pants.
"Takes one to know one."
"Fine. I'm gone. You really are a true Queen. A real Queen Bitch and a royal pain in my ass," he snapped acidly.
"You're one to talk about pains in the ass," she shot back.
At the door, he turned back around to say something to her.
Go, please, go, she begged. If he stayed much longer, she would not allow him to him leave.
"By the way, stay away from that kid. He's a shining star student at the hero academy," Dabi informed her.
For a moment, Melina stopped breathing. A hero?! Her appetite fled upon hearing that. But he was such a nice kid. She sighed, pretending not to be the least bit miffed by that revelation. She couldn't hold being a hero against Todoroki.
"Jealous?" she taunted him.
"No. I just know how you feel about heroes."
"I'm not too fond of villains either. Although I was with them for a short amount of time, it doesn't mean I was one of them. I have told you a dozen times before, I'm for me and me alone. I don't really care too much for heroes or villains. I'm the only person I trust."
"Yeah, I get it. I'll be seeing you, Melina."
"I have no doubt," she sighed. She could feel him standing near her. He moved fast and quiet. Sneaky bastard. "I'm not getting rid of you am I?"
"Do you really want to get rid of me?" he asked, his finger drifting down her arm.
Goosebumps rose along the path of his finger bringing a pins and needles sensation to the surface of her skin. His fingers moved along the inside of her palm until he pressed his hand into hers, his fingers enclosing her hand.
"No," she admitted, grasping his hand that fitted itself around hers.
Dabi took a chance, leaning forward to kiss her on the lips. Melina knew as long as the pheromone didn't get into his mouth he would be fine.
"I have to go," he said, a hint of regret in his voice. "There's something I have to do."
"There always is. Good-bye for now, Dabi."
"Later." He turned around at the door, his hand on the handle. "By the way, the next time you're angry and motivated, I'll be happy to help you out."
Melina held in her giggle until the door clicked closed behind him. A warm feeling blossomed in her chest. Forcing herself to push down the tender, happy emotion, she refused to consider what she already knew to be true. She liked him. If given time, she might even love him. But that would be a deadly mistake. Everything good in her life, everyone she loved, gets taken away from her. For his sake and her own, she couldn't afford to follow her true feelings for him.
~\.."../~
A few nights later...
Dabi left the bar around 3AM with Himiko right on his heels. Her incessant prattle about nothing fell on deaf ears. His thoughts were occupied with another woman.
He had given Melina some distance, not going back to the hotel to see her. She had changed. For the better or worse didn't matter. Good girls were never his cup of tea, but he wasn't sure what level of bad she gone to either. She was many degrees of gray he didn't understand.
Suddenly Dabi realized Himiko was no longer talking. It wasn't like her to just shut up.
Turning around, he saw her standing still about half a block behind him.
"Hey, Toga! What the hell are you doing? Let's go! I need to get you home," he said, agitated by her dilly dallying.
When she didn't move, he cursed impatiently and stomped back toward her. As he came closer, he could hear raspy breathing as if she could not catch her breath. Then he saw her eyes were wide open, staring as if she were a dead woman on her feet. A shudder ran through her body before she collapsed onto the sidewalk and started seizing, flipping around like a fish out of water and foaming at the mouth.
"Himiko!"
Dabi knelt down beside her lifting her head. His fingers touched something sticking out of the back of her neck. Rolling her onto her side, he saw a black tube about the diameter and shape of a drinking straw protruding from her neck. Snatching it out, he saw that it had a needle sharp pointed end. The object looked exactly like the stinger of a bee only on a gargantuan scale.
"Fuck," he muttered, carefully placing the object in his coat pocket as Shigaraki and Kurogiri came toward them to investigate.
Melina...what have you done?
A/N: I have to show my appreciation! Thank you to my devoted reviewers bbymojo and maxridelover! Thank you Terrence Johnny Stanford for your encouraging words. Thanks to everyone who favorited or followed.