Chapter 11: The rules say our emotions don't comply

Saori rubbed her head as she walked back home. Her senses had finally returned to being normal but that didn't stop the aching body, headaches, or shivers. But she was convinced those were from the devil months and not because was recently sick. As in, not currently sick, Dabi.

She could totally go outside and do things. Maybe not sing and play the cello yet, her voice was still a little rough, but she could remove some of those idiots who seemed to have come out of the woodwork after she had been gone for a week.

Fucking arseholes dancing on a shit fuelled fire that they needed to give her right this bloody second! Fuck the goddamn cold in its own damn eye socket.

At least the cash in their wallets was now in her pockets. The streets were silent except for the clean-up of a major hero versus villain battle, and she was heading to her warmer home. Although that meant there weren't any fights for her to get her blood pumping and her own body temperature up. She groaned and shivered to herself.

Feathered wings fluttered and then flew down to her, the hero landing on the ground next to her. "Hello, Kaida-san!" Hawks greeted too cheerfully for the temperature. He wasn't even bothered when she barely mumbled a hello back. "I'm going to take a guess from your voice that you did catch something from the rain last time we met. Sorry about that."

"What for? You can't control the weather." Unlike a certain sister of hers but Phocidae liked snow and hail more than rain for some reason. Likely because she knew it could cause sickness. Maybe she should have paid more attention to some of her sister's lectures.

"I could have asked you to stay. Or helped you get home in the rain. You didn't even have an umbrella! I shouldn't have let you out in that downpour. You got sick because of it." His remorse was practised, but there was sincerity in it. Along with a small amount of self-admonishment.

"It's my fault. I failed to convince my roommate to set me on fire. Even after I went through the effort to get dinner for him too." She smirked at him. "Besides, you were meeting your friend. You're allowed to relax."

He fucking chirped in his laugh! He choked it into a more normal-sounding laugh, but she heard the bird-like noise! "I'm pretty sure your roommate was right to not set you on fire."

"I'm fire-resistant, bitch." She grinned. Okay, maybe she was still a little sick. She seemed to become impish while being so. "I could jump into a volcano and come out largely unscathed. But that's still apparently not grounds for making one my winter home or some shit."

"Kaida! What the fuck are you doing outside?" Dabi shouted at her from across the street. He was that close? Oh fuck, she'd lost track of him. She won't be let out of the house for another week, would she?

"And that's my mean roommate who won't set me on fire." She sighed as Dabi blatantly jaywalked over in front of a Hero, arms ladened with their takeaway dinner. "Hey, I'd say I'm completely recovered and should be let outside to get some bloody fresh air but I'm honestly going to say I probably should have stayed inside for a few more days. The cold sucks."

"Damn right the fuck you should have," Dabi growled, oh he really was pissed at her. "Fevers are no joke, especially to someone who turns into a delirious, heat-seeking idiot when sick. Now get a move on."

Sharp blades - no, hardened feathers actually - fly out and grab the food from Dabi's arms. He jolted but restrained himself from doing much about it. He mustn't like any heroes in general, but he did seem to have the sense to not draw the wrong sort of attention. "I've got this, you help Kaida-san. How high has her temperature been?" Hawks asked.

Dabi stared at him for a bit before growling under his breath. "That's part of the fucking problem, she's cold-blooded and fire-resistant. She keeps raising her own temperature and while it's not doing too much damage, it's not healthy. And no, we can't go to the fucking hospital or get a doctor." He grabbed the hem of her sleeve. "Now are you coming or you gonna give the food back, birdie?"

"Birdie?" There was a faint squawk in his voice. Dabi showed no sign of hearing it so she knew her hearing must have nearly finished restoring itself now. "For that, I am going to keep carrying this. Lead the way, Kaida-san's roommate-san."

And Dabi did. To be fair, it was her place first and she doubted Dabi had any attachment to the place. It wasn't his safe place he was revealing to someone he didn't like. Hawks had stumbled slightly when they came to her place. Her friend stared at the Hero, but Hawks just smiled it off. They did live in an apartment block that was for sale because of a rodent infestation.

She had eaten well while settling in. Practising her ground manipulation to fill in the holes and make sure the place was completely structurally sound was also a benefit.

Hawks didn't enter their chosen apartment physically; his feathers deposited their dinner on a table Dabi got from somewhere. Apparently, some furniture was worth buying. Something to do with hygiene, bacteria, and dumps not being clean. Dabi pushed her to her nest pile, and she flopped on top of it. It was so warm inside of it. She burrowed in a little.

"She's out," Dabi muttered, before tensing as if in preparation for battle. "As for you, birdie-."

"I won't say anything." Hawks interjected quietly. "I noticed her eyes. She's good at hiding it but being sick just confirmed it. Her hearing must be stuffed for her echolocation to not work."

She sat up and looked over, before remembering that there was a corner wall between her and the door. Saori just flopped back down.

"She's registered," Dabi replied. There must be some second unspoken conversation going on too because she doesn't see how that was related to what Hawks just said. "It's just… I don't actually fucking know. Maybe she just doesn't like crowds. Maybe she just doesn't want to hurt people with her skin and it's harder in a crowded place like that. Now bye." Dabi said. He didn't really sound cornered, but it was a close thing. Either way, his body language gave him away.

She might be blind, but she knew how to interpret body language based on factors such as clothes, steps, breathing and even heartbeat when she manages to put in the effort. Typically, she's pretty good at it.

Hawks hummed, his feathers rustling as his feathers returned to his wings. He's on edge from Dabi's behaviour but he didn't want things to escalate. "You're dead, aren't you? Who killed you? If you're hiding-."

"You can't fucking do anything. Now bye." Dabi slammed the door on him this time.

He walked around the corner.

"I'm sorry." She offered no explanation or promises to not do it again. He sighed but nodded in acceptance.

"I'd break out after being kept somewhere too long. You're not getting any sauce for dinner though." He grinned and threw a bucket of chicken at her. "You can just deal with the spicy-ass chicken without it."

She immediately threw an entire chicken leg in her mouth and groaned as the delicious but admittedly weak spice filled her mouth.

"And of course, you love spicy shit. Well, I know what not to get you when you do stupid shit again." He groaned before eating his own food.

This time, it was her tugging him along by the sleeve. Endo waved as they approached, her hearing finally completely back and allowing her to hear him inside the café place they usually have their weekly meetups. Her unique appearance and unchanging orders had the person behind the counter greet her as she entered and start preparing her hot chocolate and Endo's Mochaccino. She poked Dabi towards the counter and told him to get his own stuff before sitting at the table Endo saved.

Not that it really needed to be saved. There weren't many others in the place. She reckoned they knew that winter was too much to handle going out in.

"So, you brought him too? I'm surprised you managed it without carrying him." Endo smiled at her.

Saori shrugged. "Figured I might as well check if I'm going to be a middleman going forward. Also, might as well formally introduce my only friends to each other. That's a thing, right?"

"Well, there are informal meetings, but this looks like one. Although should I be worried about you taking us both to dinner?" He laughed.

She grinned. "Nah, I'm not poly. Don't you know dragons are loyal lovers?"

"If this is all we're going to be talking about, I'm leaving," Dabi said, depositing the tray with their drinks and snacks.

"It's not like that. Kaida just finds things like that funny for some reason. Trust me, her humour is weird." Endo said lightly. "So, how much are you willing to talk about? Boundaries are important."

Dabi bit into his sandwich without answering. Saori sighed at the posturing and nudged him under the table. He turned his stare on her but didn't fix his behaviour. Fucking fine then.

"Our dads are abusive douchebags. We're rebelling and we want payback. Unfortunately, they're both powerful douchebags with clout. This means we need to be more powerful and have more clout in order to get our payback unscathed. You following?" She stated. Endo nodded, not surprised.

"Now, my father's a villain. Honestly, any Hero would have the authority to lock him up, but the thing is, most of them can't. All Might maybe, but I've never actually seen him fight so I don't really know what he's capable of." She sipped her hot chocolate. Huh, it had some spiciness. That's new. Cool, she'll have to tip the counter person. Maybe get their name too.

Dabi and Endo were strangely still, so she continued. "It's only a matter of time before he comes after me. The local news may not be international or even national, but it's likely on the internet. It'll get flagged and he'll come after me. Not just because he hates me and wants me dead though." She pulled the corded necklace with the smooth sphere stone out of her clothes. They both jolted and stared at the new information displayed.

"That's a fuckin-." Dabi cut himself off. "Germany's number one hero has a stone like that. How the fuck do you have something like that?"

She knew it would be recognisable. Kiefer wore his stone as an earring and he was hardly invisible, even with his diminutive size. Still, it was a surprise to her. She knew her siblings had gone on to become heroes in their favourite countries after they had their ages and actual birthdays confirmed.

"Oh, so Kiefer has already risen to number one? Good for him." She cheered, putting the necklace back into her shirt. She was happy for him.

Japan was a no-go zone for their family, so she was happy he was making the best of it in his second pick for a country.

"You speak as if you know him well, Kaida," Endo said, shell-shocked and sounding a little breathless.

"I mean yeah? He's my brother." She said, making quick work of her steaming hot meat pie. Realisation dawned on her. "Wait, you hadn't figured it out? Fuck. Sorry, thought you'd have been able to piece it together." She shrugged, it didn't matter if they'd caught the obvious hints she had been giving them or not. "Dabi's father is the harder opponent to tackle. He has longevity and he is a staple of society which means it'll be hard to get him just by ourselves."

Dabi started forward, "Hang on, what you were talking about before-." She tucked her fringe out of her eyes and looked at him.

Their battle of wills staring contest was interrupted by a slurp. They turned to Endo, unimpressed. He cocked an eyebrow back, disappointed, and also unimpressed. It kind of felt like when Fieyre had caught Xerxen doing something childish that she'd dragged Calamity into. Although there wasn't as much amusement from Endo as Fieyre usually had.

Phocidae would be angrier, Tsarina would just let it slide due to tiredness and nostalgia. Kiefer would probably be the closest actually, but he could be just as bad as them when they both pulled him into their shenanigans.

"Boundaries Dabi. If you go over Kaida's, then you open up your own boundaries with her." Endo said, taking another sip of his drink. "Besides, if she is who we think she is, then there's probably a reason she's not in Europe with her siblings and mother. Although I do have to ask, what is your father?"

They stared firmly at her with no hints of backing down. If Saori wasn't used to it from those initial years out of Reborn, she would have been hurt that they called her father a 'what'.

"This was his." She said, gesturing to the necklace. She didn't continue.

Dabi made a huffing growl sound, tensing in annoyance and paranoia. "You're going to make us guess?"

"He's a Garchomp," Endo said with a haunted voice. "They made Psuedo-Legendaries."

Saori nodded, brushing her fringe which she was told was gold, back in front of her face. Dabi choked on his spit. "You're a Garchomp, no fucking wonder you hate the cold so much."

She merely hummed in acknowledgement. It's a little hard to answer with words when there's half a steaming meat pie in your mouth.

"Well, that's your problem solved," Dabi huffed. "When the bastard comes, just kill him."

"The fight will draw too much attention." She said.

Dabi scoffed. "You're an Anahera, Japan would be over-fucking-joyed to have you."

She gritted her teeth, resisting the urge to bear them in threat. "I'm in this freezing country to hide from my family. Also, I told you that I hate dead bodies. I'm not killing my father." She crunched into her remaining pie.

"If Kaida doesn't want her family to find her or kill her father, that's her decision," Endo stated, forcing an end to the argument. A hesitant curiosity tinted his tone. He had a question he was worried he'd regret asking.

She decided to try and not let him ask it. Dabi avoided her stare and finished off the black coffee he bought. They were all silent, and she really didn't know how to get the ball rolling here. What did one do in awkward silences? There weren't really many in her family.

Although distractions worked well when Fieyre got… weird after Xikick was mentioned. But they needed to talk about this. So how could she fix this and keep it on point?

"Mum almost killed him before, the scar is pretty obvious. She ripped her own eye out as a distraction so she could get a single hit in." She gave them a stare when they opened their mouths, they settled back into their seats properly. "My father will come for me, I can't kill him, I won't, but he'll kill me if he gets the chance. If All Might had a set hunting ground, I'd hide near there and then just lead him to it but…"

She left it at that. It really wasn't a secret that All Might was appearing less often over the years. Japan's heroes should just get good and let the man retire already. Mum saw him as an almost father figure, a role model at the very least, which meant he was basically an old man.

Her shoulders drooped and she knocked back the rest of her hot chocolate. It burned pleasantly going down her throat. It didn't improve her hopes.

"All Might sponsored Victuuri. They fought and got rid of all the Pokémon that escaped when your mother brought Reborn to light and brought down its leaders." Endo said, sounding almost like he was quoting. This conversation really had been a bunch of bombs dropped on his head. They hadn't even gotten to Dabi's family yet.

"And then a bunch of European Countries sponsored my siblings, so they'd be Heroes in their country. Your point?" Saori asked, honestly feeling a little tired of the topic already. Although that might be because she's had to listen to her siblings sing on the radio station. Kiefer will be coming up next.

They always go in age order, but they never have any recordings from the old days. A pity, she would have enjoyed hearing Lucifer sing again. They were always the best at it. Although the songs she remembers them singing were all kind of depressing. The others had sung some of their more cheerful songs, so she knew they hadn't always sung like that.

"You've met All Might; you'd be able to find him, right? Sharks have a pretty good sense of smell." Endo said.

She gave him a bewildered stare. "You expect me to remember the scent of a man I met once almost five years ago? My family may have a great memory thanks to Mum but even that's a little far. I lose things almost constantly. My memory is taken up just memorising my environment, so I don't break anything or crash into the wall!" She shook her head as she continued. "I can't. I'm shit at geography, and I don't want to accidentally swim to another country instead of visiting any part of Japan that's not part of this island bit in search of him."

She could feel them wanting to ask more questions. Not wanting to talk about herself or her family any longer she put a stop to it.

"We're also here for Dabi's father, you know," Saori said. "I'm more concerned about him. He's got younger siblings that still live with him."

Dabi kicked her under the table as Endo swore. At least he saw why she was concerned. Thank fuck it also finally stopped them pestering her. She managed to relax a little, but that was aided by the fact that Kiefer was currently singing. She hummed a little to it, low enough no one with average hearing could hear it.

"No chance of removing and hiding them?" Endo asked, already seeming to know the answer.

Dabi was already shaking his head. "No, at least, not the one Kaida's most worried about." He pondered something before continuing. "Fuyumi doesn't have to stay home anymore, Natsuo… either he's in his last year of school or he's already out. I could get Natsu to speak out but Fuyumi's delusional." He sounded really bitter about it.

Endo nodded in understanding. Saori could kind of see where Fuyumi might be coming from, all she'd wanted at one stage was for her 'dad' to love her and be a family in the context she knew. She got that and she now knows how much he would never love her but… she still remembered.

And there was a part of her that wished she could be in a normal, full family. She stiffened again as Kiefer stopped singing.

Dabi stiffened himself before throwing out one last comment. "The garbage fire will endeavour to keep Shouto under his thumb. His masterpiece will be going to UA next year."

Endo stiffened. He caught on. Dabi nodded in confirmation to whatever silent signal Endo sent him.

"I'm going to get drunk when I get home after work this evening. Fucking hell." He drank some of his mochaccino like it was the alcohol he currently desired. "Fuck it, I've got to ask. Kaida, your abusive partner you said you were running from?"

She pointed at the speaker in the café. The song that was playing had just started its chorus. Xerxen's voice felt like a call back to the past Saori never wanted to return to. Endo threw back the rest of his drink like a shot. Dabi even choked on his bite of food.

For Saori, it hurt to hear this song again. Xerxen often liked to serenade her with this song in particular.

"So let's be sinners to be saints,
And let's be winners by mistake.
The world may disapprove,
But my world is only you.
And if we're sinners then it feels like heaven to me."

It's kind of weird reading and editing the stuff I wrote over a year ago. I haven't had almost any time to write all year. In my head, the characters have changed and I figured out why they do things and how they came to be. But I have to keep writing with Saori's limited knowledge of events and circumstances.

And if anyone is wondering, I'm not up to date with canon. At least on the Manga side, if what I've seen in the peripherals is correct, I could technically be considered up to date with the anime.

Song of the Chapter: Sinners by Lauren Aquilina

Don't own any songs, BNHA or Pokemon.