The apartment door was a joke. It took very little effort for Dabi to force his way in. Of course, that could have been avoided if she was home. It was late afternoon so he thought she would be off work by now, but he was letting himself into a silent apartment. Even her rats were quiet as they dozed in the corner of their cage.

He shut the door behind him and managed to jam it in a way that it would at least stay closed. When he was satisfied, he ventured into the little kitchen to search for a possible snack to tide him over while he waited for Sayuri. Unfortunately, the fridge was pretty empty. He had hoped she would have some leftover meat he could eat and was disappointed by the meager amount of food.

Dabi settled for the cold fries, despite having no idea how old they might be. He sprawled on her couch, letting the dark blue cushions bring comfort to his tired limbs. The food was kind of greasy and settled in his stomach like a stone, but it was better than being hungry.

Fatigue was threatening to take hold as he lounged on the sofa, staring up at the pale ceiling. He tucked an arm behind his head as extra cushioning and yawned. The past three weeks had been busy. Lots of fights. Lots of flames. He honestly had a blast, but he had been craving this day for a while.

When he told her he wanted to keep her, he was telling the truth. He liked her. She was pretty cute and he liked her personality. That innocence with a sarcastic edge. Not to mention how she had let him stay with her for a few days and seemed to enjoy fussing over him. It felt pretty good to be spoiled.

He had managed to keep himself from getting hurt while he was away. It was something he made sure to stay aware of. Since she had taken his injuries last time, their activities were limited to more or less cuddling. If they tried to go any further, her wounds would have opened and it would have gotten messy.

After waiting for a while, he closed his eyes and ran his fingers through his scruffy black hair. It was a Friday. It was getting close to dinner time. From what she had mentioned to him, Sayuri usually went straight home after work and ate at home. He was a little annoyed with having to wait for her, but the warmth of the apartment and the comfort of her couch were starting to lull him into relaxation.

Dabi lazily opened his eyes and turned to look toward her bedroom door. The last time he was in her apartment, she had absolutely forbidden him from going into her room. Since the apartment door had given way so easily, he knew he could probably force open her bedroom door if he wanted to. He simply lacked the motivation at the moment.

What's she doing right now? She said it herself that she's only got that one friend. What'd she say her name was? Yumi? He pushed himself to sit up, leaning his back against the arm of the couch. "Seriously. What's taking so long?"

Shift P.O.V

"Sorry this is taking so long." Fuyumi gave her an apologetic frown.

"What're friends for? Besides, it's not like I have any reason to rush home. I don't have to feed my rats for another hour." She saw Fuyumi preparing to protest and held up a hand, half-grinning. "I know what you're about to say, but I can't! If I feed them early just once, that's all it takes for them to start expecting it earlier every day."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm one hundred and ten percent sure. Don't worry about it. Besides, you can't carry all of this yourself." Sayuri nodded toward the absurd amount of groceries in the cart, snickering quietly.

Due to past experiences, she was pretty good at hiding her pain. The past three weeks, she had managed to keep her injuries a secret from her best friend. She also kept Dabi a secret. After all, it would look bad if she did mention him. Looking back on it, Sayuri felt like it was as absurd as a one-night stand.

She had let this stranger stay in her home for a few days with her. A complete stranger that had somehow acquired nearly fatal wounds and had refused to divulge how he got them. For all she knew, Dabi might have been involved in something shady and that was how he got hurt.

When he had abruptly vanished in the middle of the night, Sayuri tried to tell herself it was for the best. It was difficult to move on, though. She kept replaying that moment in her head. That moment when she woke up on the couch and he was holding her chin. That moment when he told her he planned to keep her.

Sayuri helped her friend finish up shopping and carried half of the bags to Fuyumi's house. What does that mean? That he wants to keep me? I don't think I've ever heard someone say that before. Was that just his way of asking me out? So why did he disappear without saying anything?

"Do you want to stay for dinner tonight? I managed to convince Shouto and Natsuo to agree to eat with me. I'm making a lot so-"

"Um…I can't. Sorry."

Fuyumi's shoulders drooped as she paused in unpacking the groceries. "Sorry. You know…he's not going to be home for a while. Dinner will probably be over before-"

"Y-your dad scares me," Sayuri explained. "I'm sorry."

"Right. Sorry. Um…" She struggled to try to think of what she could say to change the mood in the kitchen. "Oh! I made some curry yesterday and I couldn't finish it all. Do you want to take home the leftovers?"

Sayuri, having a soft spot for curry, eagerly nodded. She was glad to leave the Todoroki house once everything was settled. Even when she was younger, she had always made a point of spending minimal time with her best friend's family. Compared to Fuyumi, the male family members all seemed so cold and unfriendly. She got enough of that from her own family.

The long trudge home left her feeling ragged. It had been a long day at work anyway so adding that to the shopping trip with Fuyumi and now the lengthy walk to her apartment made her just want to collapse. Thoughts of falling onto her bed and eating the curry leftovers cold were appealing.

Her blissful daydream began to rapidly fade away as she stared at her door. The doorknob looked a little dented on one side. When she got her keys out to unlock it, she found it unlocked. However it was difficult to open. Sayuri had to throw all of her weight against the door to force it open and she nearly toppled onto the floor with the plastic leftovers container hugged against her chest.

To further fuel her alarm, Sayuri found a familiar figure sprawled on her couch. Somehow, he had slept through her bursting into the apartment. She held the plastic container closer and pushed the door closed behind her, not taking her eyes off of him. Did he…break into my apartment?

Slipping off her shoes, she crept closer to the couch and found herself unable to look away from Dabi's sleeping form. He had his head turned toward her, but his eyes were closed and he was breathing softly, evenly. Sayuri glanced along his figure on reflex, checking for injuries, but found heat rising to her cheeks.

He broke into my apartment. I should be angry. So why am I checking him out? She turned away, planning to put away the leftovers, but found a hand darting up and closing around her left wrist. With a sharp pull, the girl was sent falling onto of him and felt his other arm wrap around her to press against her back.

Turquoise eyes met her lilac gaze and he smirked. "You're late. You usually make people wait around for you?"

"Wh-where have you been?" She was seething, but there was also a layer of relief at seeing he was alive and well. "You disappeared!"

"I had to take care of something." He looked at the container she held and raised an eyebrow. "Is that curry?"

"My friend made it for me." Sayuri sat up, only to realize that in doing so she was now straddling his hips. Lowering her head, she clutched the container tighter against her chest. "Look, you can't just disappear-" She felt her stomach do a flip as he pressed a finger against her lips.

"I came back, didn't I? What? You think I cheated or something?" He saw her face warming in hue again. His smirk grew as he rested a hand on her hip. Leaning up, his lips skimmed along the curve of her left ear. "You thought I'd let you go? I told you I was gonna keep you." A finger hooked through one of her belt loops and tugged teasingly.

Her nose twitched and Sayuri leaned back, away from him. He had a strange scent that she could not remember smelling the last time he was there. Like cooked meat and burnt hair. It was perplexing.

She lifted the container and nodded down at it. "You want some curry?"

Dabi seemed to have been expecting her to say something else, but quickly recovered his smug expression. "Yeah. You're gonna heat it up, right?"

"I will, but go wash up first."

His eyes narrowed and he fell back against the arm of the couch. "Seriously? You sound like a mom."

"I'm serious. You smell like death," she muttered, turning her gaze away.

"You don't seem that turned off by it." Despite teasing her, he obliged and left for the bathroom.

Shift P.O.V

I don't smell like death. Do I? He lifted a hand and sniffed, but his skin just smelled the way it always did. Dabi almost wondered if she just failed to notice the scent last time.

To be fair, he had several fresh layers of ashes on his clothes and in his hair. Ashes that were once human flesh. The wind had changed when he was burning some cocky idiots earlier that day, sending a cloud of ashes blowing in his direction. The smell of cooked human flesh and hair probably clung to him like a macabre cologne.

His eyes lifted from his hand up to his reflection in the mirror above the sink. A smirk tugged at his lips when he thought of the expression she wore earlier. How timid and flustered she looked when he caught her watching him sleep. He had missed that as well as the warmth and comfort that her apartment offered.

This time, I'm staying longer. I can find stuff to do around here so I won't have to leave the area. Besides, she looks like she was lonely without me. He almost wanted to laugh at that thought.

With what limited resources he had, Dabi managed to get most of the ashes out of his hair and washed them away down the sink drain. He washed his hands and his forearms, but he was not going to waste time using her shower and bath. Not when he had better things to do. After all, she was waiting for him. With curry.

Closing the bathroom door behind him, he found her settled on the couch with two bowls of curry and rice that were steaming. Just the sight was enough to make his mouth water and his stomach growl. The cold fries were not enough to satisfy his appetite. It had been at least two days since he last ate a real meal.

"Why don't you cook? Are you just lousy at it?" he taunted, settling beside her. He took a bowl from her before she could try to move it out of his reach.

The girl frowned and chewed at her fork for a moment, mulling over how to answer his question. "I just don't like it, okay? It reminds me of when I was a kid."

"Don't tell me you've got some sob story about your parents dying."

"They're still alive," she corrected him. "I just might as well be dead to them. It's complicated."

He lifted a forkful of curry and rice to his mouth, savoring the sweet flavor of it. Sweet curry. Is this the kind of stuff she likes? She looks like she'd be into sweets. He chewed and prepared a second forkful. "Okay so just spit it out. You wanna talk about it, right?"

"There's not much to talk about. They wanted me to go to UA and become a hero because of my quirk. I wanted to be a teacher. They didn't like that so they just stopped talking to me or acknowledging me. End of story."

"Huh. Doesn't seem that complicated." Dabi watched from the corner of his eye as she pulled her long, snow-pale hair into a ponytail so it was away from her face. His gaze followed the shape of her neck and along her collarbone to where it disappeared beneath her shirt.

"Look, it…doesn't matter anyway, right? Let's just eat before the food gets cold again." She took small, delicate bites and pink rose to her face when she glanced over and caught him now staring at her. "Wh-what?"

He leaned over, without saying a word, and ran his thumb along her lower lip. Bringing it to his mouth, he licked away the curry sauce that had been on her skin and smirked when he saw the pink hue darken to red. Again, he found himself loving the girl's innocence and how easily flustered she was.

Lowering her head to try to hide it, Sayuri failed miserably. The bowl was left on her lap as she pulled two strands of white hair loose from her ponytail to hang on either side of her face. "You know, you…still smell like death," she mumbled, as if hoping to get payback for him embarrassing her.

"What? Are you serious?" Dabi let his fork fall into his bowl and leaned down a little so he could look her in the eyes. Those soft eyes the color of spring lilacs. "Look, unless you're gonna help me wash it off, stop complaining."