Fighting Chance
You come on with it, come on
You don't fight fair
That's okay, see if I care
Knock me down, it's all in vain
I get right back on my feet again- Hit me With Your Best Shot by Pat Benatar
I set my feet, digging my toes into the soft dirt. Katsuki stood beside me, holding our provisions and trying hard not to cough. I scanned the area, trying to remember everything I'd been taught about fighting. The things Katsuki had said yesterday about me being the only limiter I had. I had to believe I could use my quirk in a way that'd be helpful.
There were rocks, most not too big and close enough that I could reach them before they did if I could lighten my clothes. I brought my hands back in and touched my coat, sweater and jeans in quick succession. That would have to do. I balanced on my toes.
"You ready, girlie? How about it's just you and me?" He gave a sharp guffaw, "Might be best to re-think it."
"I don't think so," I said under my breath, shaking my hands again before bringing them back to the right position.
He dashed forward but I didn't hesitate. My body surged toward him, fist closed the way I'd been taught, ready to give this guy a punch he wouldn't forget.
"Ochaco!" Katsuki's weakened voice scraped out, "They're coming!" I chanced a look, and six more men moved toward where I was about to meet their leader. My heart lurched and started beating even harder as I set my jaw. I knew that in our condition we would never win this fight. I just needed them to fear me. To make them believe that we were strong enough, even just the two of us, to take them all on.
I remembered Dabi and I practicing over and over again lifting objects and letting them fall. I'd never done anything like what I wanted to do, but now was the time to believe in myself. I ducked under a wide slash of his knife, blade gleaming dangerously as it grazed the ends of my hair. I slapped his arm aside as I came up, activating my quirk.
The training sessions flashed before my eyes as the movements flowed. Step in with the left, put your whole body behind the rotation, wrist straight. The hand-to-hand combat that Cap had insisted we all learn came back in frightening clarity. With a sickening crack my fist connected to the underside of his jaw, the momentum carrying through my arm, jolting painfully right into my elbow.
"Look out! She's some kinda freak!" Another voice shouted. Their charge sounded like thunder to my ears.
The man I'd socked in the jaw flew straight up into the air as if he had been launched by a cannon. I waited a moment to release my quirk and he fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Arms clothed in damp, smelly cloth held me tight as I thrashed against the embrace. I could hear Katsuki, I hoped that he was thumping anyone who wanted to grab him. If I were caught he needed to get free.
"[Stop fighting!]" The leader staggered upright, "[They're going to take us out!]" He stalked closer to me, and I spit at him, making him dodge with his lips twisting in distaste before he slapped me hard, "Stop fighting, and he'll let you go."
A concussive bellow came from the side, Katsuki must have bent his will into a pretzel to work up enough sweat to make that much noise. Everyone but us were either huddled or had their hands clasped to their ears in a bid to reduce damage. I shot him a smile, and was rewarded with the sight of him throwing up. This day could not get better, I thought with bitter sarcasm.
"[Enough.]" He roughly grabbed my shoulder, "Tell him to stop, and we let you go, Freak."
"I can and will throw you like a smelly rock if you don't." I prayed that they hadn't noticed my conditions. They hadn't if the way the arms holding me popped open like a broken hinge were any indication. Their leader backed up a few steps.
"[Stupid bitch,]" He muttered in French before addressing me again, "Well? You're free. Leave."
I darted to Katsuki's side, "Let's go."
He shot a look over his shoulder and then slung an arm around me, "We should have stayed."
"Yeah." I blew out hard, "Too late for that. But we are going to find a place to hide and we're going to build a fire, and get you sweating. I don't want to be here anymore."
Katsuki merely grunted, trying to wrangle our pack as I watched the gang melt away. "Sorry, Cap." I pressed my fingers into his skin, negating his weight. He gulped, looking decidedly green this time, and I grabbed him by the sleeve of his jacket. He bobbed at my side and I quickened my pace toward the woods. Even I could make a shelter under trees.
The trees were by no means ancient bastions of solitude. Most of them were stubby, having only grown after the war. The grandfathers were sparse anyway, the coastal region making them grow spindly. I cursed my luck until I noticed a couple of overturned trunks with clumps of earth clinging to their roots. They'd fallen in a storm and tangled, pressed against a few of their more hearty family. I could have wept with relief. A hollow left by the roots would be perfect.
I thought about it for a moment, then pushed Katsuki against a tree, linking my fingers to make him drop. He slid to the ground without a word. If he couldn't complain, he must be pretty bad off.
"I need you to find a place to spend the night," I touched his cheek, moving his head so he could view the trees. He leaned into my fingers, and I closed my eyes for a moment, wishing I were anyone else. A person who could close the distance, could hold Katsuki close, and give and take comfort. At that moment I wanted to let Katsuki be strong, let him hold me and stroke my hair and tell me that everything would be okay. Again.
"Okay," Katsuki mumbled, but his eyes were open, and he struggled to stand upright, "Get firewood." He coughed again, "I think I can get a fire going."
I took a breath, and let him go, "Alright. I'll be right back." I watched him lurch away before I turned my back on him and allowed the tears I didn't want him to see to fall.
I was back some time later, with an armful of twigs that hadn't looked too wet, and a pocket with four pilfered pigeon eggs. I thought they must have lived in the city, but now are living a wild life while still foraging in the coastal town. When I got closer to the tangle of trees, I saw that Katsuki had managed to hang our blanket over some roots, creating a snug-looking camp. Our night was looking up.
The man himself was tearing bark into strips and twisting them until they resembled fibrous rope. He looked up when I stooped in, and indicated that I should drop the twigs in a shallow hole he'd dug. I did so and he stuffed all the bark into the spaces.
"We'll need more wood."
"Okay." I dug in my pocket, and handed him the eggs. "Once the fire's burned down, you can cook them in the shell near the ashes. They shouldn't explode if we do it right." I watched him. We needed that fire, and he was the only way we would get it. I didn't relish the thought of pulling the blanket down and just sharing body heat.
He shook out his hands and gave a weak cough, "I only need a spark. I don't need more than that." He clasped one of his ropes between his hands and soon smoke was trickling between his fingers. He turned the grasp into a cup and blew tiny puffs at the smoldering material. A tongue of flame leaped up and I could have fainted with relief.
Instead I left again for more wood. Unfortunately, my thoughts followed me. If Katsuki was good at just one thing, it was inspiring confidence. Dead sick and he managed to watch my back in a fight. He managed to make camp and a fire. He made me think that he was strong and capable and so pretty when he wasn't annoying.
I walked back out toward where I'd found the eggs, wondering if pigeons lived in a big group. If I could score a couple more eggs, maybe a full stomach would take my mind off finding comfort elsewhere. I found a patch of dry-ish wood, gathering as much I could carry. No more eggs. I heaved a sigh as I returned to Katsuki.
I backed into our shelter, turning once inside to drop the wood just to be caught off guard by the focus of my thoughts. Katsuki was leaning back, the eggs in his lap, asleep. I settled next to him, and using one of the branches I'd brought, I dug a trench into the ashes before I stoked the fire again. I put the eggs in the trench and settled back.
"I don't hate you."
I startled, "I thought you were asleep."
Katsuki's eyes opened just enough to look at me, "I'm trying, but I can't yet." His eyes closed again, and he leaned against me, his arm going across my body to lie in my lap, his hair tickling my cheek and ear, "Please tell me you don't hate me, Ochaco."
"I don't." I didn't, and it twisted a knife in my heart, "Katsuki, if things…"
He interrupted me, "Ochaco.." His hand slid up my side, a slow tide of heat. "I want you."
Gods above, I wanted him too at that moment. I closed my eyes, the knife twisting, "Katsuki, I.."
His innate strength and warmth seeped into me though the coat. Armor would not be enough to make me safe. I gave in, trapping his hand as it touched my cheek.
"Just let me in," he breathed. "I would never make you less; and you need this, I need this."
I allowed the pressure of his hand to turn me toward him, centimeters at a time, it felt like the time it would take for a mountain to rise, the flap of a hummingbird's wing. My heart was pounding, knife or not, and Katsuki's eyes were steady and pinning me.
My lips opened to say I had to stop, that I couldn't take this, even if I wanted it. He didn't allow me to breathe, his wind-chapped lips scraped over mine. The arm that had been behind my back rose to work his fingers under my coat and to stroke over my sensitive flesh. Callus rough, so like Dabi scars, yet the same gentle touch I so desperately needed right now. My vision swam, the blonde boy in front of me growing hazier and hazier as Dabi moved closer. I let my mind disengage.
The dew from our mingled breathing made his lips, which were a new, exciting burn-free sensation, slip over mine. He drew a moan from my throat, and he moved, his body almost kneeling over mine. His tongue swept over the bow of my bottom lip, and I opened for him, greedily touching his shoulder then his hair which was soft and perfect for knotting in my fingers.
He made slow love to my mouth, and I luxuriated in the feel of his touch on my back. Gooseflesh rose in waves of pleasure, and my body was ready. Everything was tight and pulsing, and I could feel Dabi's ministrations get more intense. His hand moved and he swept aside the material covering my breast to allow his thumb to circle one pebbled nipple.
I broke contact, this time, the knife suddenly plunged in to the hilt. This wasn't some fantasy! Katsuki was kneading my breast, his knee was pressed into my thigh. It was not a voice roughened by burns whispering sweet sounds into my ear. I wanted this, I did, but not with him.
"No." I half-whispered, and my fantasy tried to reassert itself, Katsuki's kiss growing hungry, his teeth scraping my lip. A move that Dabi knew I loved. His knee pushed my legs to open fully for him. The hand that had been tangled in my hair moved with alarming speed to dip into the waistband of my jeans.
His forehead burned my skin, "Oh, please," He spoke, his words caressing me, "Ochaco."
Dabi would never ask. After the first time, he wouldn't need to.
"No." My hands reacted faster than my mind as I gave him a little shove, "No!"
Unfocused eyes tried to blink, "No?"
"I have a boyfriend." I wailed it, I would have screamed if I could. "I love him."
His touch evaporated, and I longed to just escape. "I'm not asking for that. What he doesn't know…"
Nothing could be more calculated to make me angry, "I would know. Get off. I need to cool down."
"You?!" He staggered upright, I could see that his fever had broken, finally, as sweat dotted his forehead. I could also see that he was just as ready as I. His jeans didn't hide his arousal, and his snarl didn't dent my curiosity. My attention shifted back to his fiery eyes. Red like coals, not blue like the summer sky.
Dabi
I stood outside the Inn and stared at the sky, wishing I were safely in it with Ochaco at my side. Shinso stood beside me, mutely offering the Ham portable. I took it, and checked the papers to call in the plan. Those small chores done, I handed the boy the radio and hitched up my bag.
"It's nice in the daylight." Shinso's purple eyes flicked around the landscape, "It must have been something."
"It was." I agreed, allowing my own step back down memory lane. Growing up at the Inn, the whole of Paris, even ruined as it was, open for play. I've learned a lot here. Been taught by some of the finest minds, fastest hands, and quickest talking people in the world. I couldn't fault myself for dreaming that I'd been born there, and that all my old memories were something read in a terrible dime-store novella. I shook the cobwebs of old fantasies out of a mind that needed to be sharp.
"So, the plan is to get South as quickly as we can. We're going to walk and look for rides. Here where the weather is milder, there's still plenty of trade going on. We might even make some money while we're at it."
"You want to hire on with a trade caravan?"
I shrugged, and started walking, "They hit all the big cities and stay away from places we don't want to go. It's just a thought." I reached into a pocket, fingering a mechanic's travel kit. It had everything I would need to steal a jump if we found one. "Always good to make more than one plan. As it is, we'll hit the A-10, and try to follow it as much as we can. It's the best road."
"I spoke with one of the traders while waiting for you this morning," Shinso picked at an imaginary hangnail. "He told me that the next big stop for us should probably be Poitiers."
"Something like 300 kilometers or so? If I remember."
The younger man smiled, "You do. How long will that take on foot?"
I shook my head, and shot the boy an amused look, "A little while. You gonna yap or you gonna walk?"
We suited our words and set off in a brisk pace that I was certain we could keep for a time at least.
AN/ Our parties will meet soon! Apparently Pigeons nest year-round. There's about a 200km difference between what our parties have to cover, but Ochaco and Katsuki are holed up for a day, and Dabi is nothing if not determined. My bio dad is a logger! I know my trees. Honestly, I know trees better than I know him. LOL Mosevic, I have decided, is the devil. I made a compact with the father of lies, and now I can produce fanfiction that makes me smile. Thank you from the heart.
