What is this? Dabi took one step into Sayuri's bedroom and had to pause and stare in confusion. Right above her bed, there was a poster proudly displayed on the wall. It was framed, which meant that it must be extremely important to her.
If it was a family photo, he might understand framing it, but this was a poster of a hero. A male hero that looked like he was in his late twenties. He had shaggy, dark violet hair that hung to his shoulders and pale blue eyes. Posing with his fists in front of him like he had just punched them together, smiling like he was trying to hold back laughter.
The name Calorie Bomb was in big letters above the hero's head and there was a messy signature near his right foot. Not only did Sayuri have a framed poster of this hero, but she was enough of a fan that it was actually autographed and there was a personal message scrawled near the corner of the poster. This was probably the real reason why Sayuri had refused to let Dabi into her room; this was beyond embarrassing.
Calorie Bomb, huh? His eyes narrowed as he stared up at the poster. Turning his head, he saw Sayuri's face burning pink with a blush. Whatever. She never talks about him so he's probably just a crush. That's…pretty lame.
The young woman let him lead her over to the bed and she flopped onto her back, pale hair fanning out over the patchwork quilt. She rubbed at her face, sighing in a mix of exhaustion and obvious frustration. "I…let that girl down," she mumbled. "How can I call myself a good teacher when I can't even do a home visit?"
Dabi was staring at the poster again and now he was beginning to wonder if her embarrassment was not over the almost cringey hero poster she had over her bed. "You really wanna go?" he asked, looking down at her.
"I want her to be safe, but…dealing with parents…is hard sometimes." She uncovered her face and closed both eyes, stretching her arms over her head. Her t-shirt slipped up a little, uncovering faded scars that momentarily gripped his attention before he looked away.
He had expected a little more to her room, since she had been so adamant about keeping him out. It seemed mostly, disappointingly, normal. A bed big enough for two, a dresser, a small closet, and a bookshelf. There was a collection of cat plush toys on top of the dresser, but that was pretty much expected. The only things that really seemed interesting were the hero poster and the quilt Sayuri was currently lying on.
It looked pretty old and handmade. A few patches were fraying and faded, but this thing almost seemed like a family heirloom. There were so many different patches that he failed to see any two that looked to be the same.
Dabi sat on the edge of the bed and ran his fingertips over the quilt, feeling the wide variety of different textures. "Don't think about it. Not like there's anything you can do now anyway."
"I just…wanted to make sure she was okay. You don't know what it felt like." Sayuri opened watery lilac eyes and stared up at Dabi, her hands subconsciously rubbing at the scars that riddled her forearms. The scars she had taken from that little girl. "These just didn't feel normal. I can't explain it…but I know a kid shouldn't have to feel what these felt like."
"It's late. There's…seriously nothing you can do about it tonight." He moved and leaned down over her, his left knee slipping between her thighs and one hand threading into her pale hair. His thumb gently wiped away a tear from beneath her right eye and he smirked when her face started to turn red. "Need a distraction? I can take your mind off that teacher stuff for the night."
A few hours later, once he was sure Sayuri was asleep, he sat up in bed and frowned. Running a hand through his hair, he tried to push away the jealousy that was starting to bubble up. She let him distract her. They had a good time and Dabi felt satisfied afterwards, but the fact that there was a hero poster hanging over them the entire time started to bother him.
Whoever Calorie Bomb was, whatever he was to Sayuri, she had never mentioned him. So, by that reasoning, Dabi should have nothing to worry about. Not to mention how much she liked him. If she was involved with that hero, Dabi obviously meant more to her than he did.
Of course, he still felt jealous. A little bitter. Not just about this hero, but about the man she was supposed to meet with that day for the home visit. Dabi could not shake the feeling that the man wanted something from her. Having never talked to the guy himself, he was unable to pinpoint what it was for certain, but he had his theories.
For one, Sayuri was pretty. Everything about her looked so clean, pure, beautiful. He loved the way she looked. Secondly, she was innocent. She trusted easily and she was a little naïve. Again, these were things he loved about her; she was easy for him to tease and fluster. Thirdly, her quirk was powerful, useful, and rare. Healing quirks were hard to come across and hers was amazing.
The idea that someone might want to take her away from him, for any of these reasons, pissed him off. Despite not knowing the man, Dabi had the strong desire to burn him alive. He added the nameless guy to his growing list, right beneath Endeavor and above her male coworker.
Falling onto his back beside Sayuri, he closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep. Her bed was much more comfortable than the couch he had been sleeping on, even if there was an unsettling poster of a hero hanging over them. Dabi half-grinned to himself and turned onto his side, sliding an arm around Sayuri's waist to pull her against his chest. I'm not going back to that couch after tonight. You're stuck with me now, babe.
Shift P.O.V
When she first woke up, it took a moment for Sayuri to recall the previous night's events. She remembered calling to reschedule the home visit and she vividly remembered Eri's father expressing his disappointment. From there, it was a little fuzzy. When the details did return to her, as she woke up more and more, her eyes went wide and she jolted upright in bed.
Heat filled her face as she stared down at the man sleeping next to her, memories of the previous night filling her head. Sayuri ran her fingers through her pale hair, pieces of glitter sprinkling the sheets beneath her and making her frown. Leaning close to him, she tilted her head studied his expression.
Sayuri's frown deepened as she examined his burns and the staples that looked like they were holding his skin together. She had seen him bleed from the edges of his burns. Not a lot, but just enough that it was noticeable. It hurt her to see that because she knew that was something he would never let her take from him. Since it was an old wound reopening, she was unsure if it was even possible.
Her eyes fell upon something she could fix, however. A gash on his upper left arm. Not too deep, but there was a decent amount of dried blood around it. The wound was just fresh enough for her to take and it stung quite a bit.
He remained asleep so, with a small half-grin, Sayuri gently ran her fingers through his dark fluffy hair. His lips twitched a little, but he did not wake up. Her eyes lowered and the young woman found herself marveling, not for the first time, at how he was built.
She was unable to stop herself from tracing her fingertips along where burns met pale, peachy flesh. Skimming over the warm metal of staples. The feeling of the metal sent a shiver along her spine and she leaned down to kiss his cheek.
It was a Sunday so she had the day off. Since this was the first time they had slept in her room together, she wanted to do something to make it special. Sayuri got dressed as quietly as possible, bandage her new wound, and decided to slip out of the apartment to get something nice for breakfast.
She was in a bakery, looking at delicious baked goods, when her phone started ringing. Seeing Fuyumi's name on the screen, she frowned and felt guilt settle in. "Fuyumi…sorry about last night. Something came up and…I couldn't meet up with you. I'm sorry-!"
"No, no! I understand! You were with your boyfriend, right? It's fine, Sayuri! You don't need to apologize!" Fuyumi's tone changed to cheerful quickly when she continued. "Actually, do you want to come over? He's not home today and he won't be back until tonight. I thought we could make our Valentine's Day chocolates."
Her eyes widened and she grinned. Bowing her head, toying with a lock of snow-pale hair, she considered the offer. There was the fear that came with going to the Todoroki house, but there was also the excitement of making something special for Dabi for Valentine's Day.
"He'll be gone all day…right?" she asked, still a little wary.
"Yes! I promise! Um…well…Natsuo and Shouto will be here, but he won't be. I promise!"
Sayuri nodded to herself. "Okay…but I can't come over right away. I'm shopping and...ah…" She felt her face starting to turn pink as she struggled to figure out how to say she had Dabi waiting for her at home.
"Oh! R-right! Sorry! Your boyfriend-!"
"W-we're just eating breakfast together! It's…not like what you're thinking, Fuyumi. Do you need anything from the store?"
Sayuri grabbed some muffins for herself and Dabi before actually going to the supermarket to get what Fuyumi said they needed for the chocolates. What kind would Dabi want, though? He never really said what kind of chocolate he likes and there are so many different ways to make these. Dark, milk, white? And if I make it dark, how dark is too dark? Does he like sweet, sweet and salty, or bittersweet?
She was so busy thinking about chocolate that when it finally registered that her phone was ringing again, she almost dropped it in her haste to answer. "Ah! Yes? Naosu Sayuri speaking!" Her voice was just a little too loud when she answered since she was in a panic.
There was a pause before the caller spoke. "Naosu. This is Chisaki Kai."
Her grip tightened on the phone as she remembered their discussion yesterday. "Ah…good morning, Chisaki-san. Is there…something that I can help you with?" It was certainly odd to hear from him, especially with him talking to her as if the previous day's verbal altercation had never happened.
"I want to reschedule the home visit," he started. "I realize that I may have come across as harsh yesterday, but you need to understand how I saw it. Eri's mother left her and she was looking forward to the home visit. Now try to imagine breaking it to her that you had to cancel. As a single parent, it's difficult to make a child understand that they're not just being abandoned again. I might have lost my patience due to frustration. You understand, don't you? I'm sure you've worked with single parents and their children before."
Relief washed over her. Partially because she had half-worried she might have said something offensive in her intoxicated state. Single parent frustration was definitely something she could understand; she had plenty of single parents that enrolled their children in her kindergarten class. Raising a child alone seemed incredibly difficult and she had been snapped at a number of times by impatient parents, but they always apologized and she always forgave them.
"Y-yes. Yes, I understand. Ah…well, I'm relieved to hear that you'll still agree to a home visit. I'm sorry if I came across as unprofessional, but it really is standard procedure for a teacher to bring a colleague for home visits and my colleague had to cancel because he-"
"I wanted to discuss that with you," he interrupted, his tone a bit commanding now.
"You…did? Ah. If there's a problem…I can request a female colleague-"
"No. If possible, I think it would be better if you came alone. Eri is extremely shy. You saw that firsthand. She gets…uncomfortable around strangers, but she's already formed a bond with you. I think it would be easier on her if you came alone for the home visit."
It was against what teachers normally did, but it was not unheard of for teachers to make exceptions for special cases like this. Sayuri had to consider this very carefully before making a decision. Of course, she wanted to make Eri feel comfortable. Above all else, she wanted what was best for the little girl.
"Which day would work best for you, Chisaki-san?" As she spoke, she felt her stomach doing odd flips. I don't have anything to be nervous about. A single father…just trying to make his daughter feel safe. I'll do a quick home visit just to make sure that everything is fine and I'll bring my phone with me.
When she entered her apartment, she found her bedroom door open and Dabi just sitting up in bed. He blinked at her sleepily and a slow half-grin began to take form. His left hand lifted and he beckoned to her without a word.
Sayuri's pulse quickened at the sight of him sitting there in her bed, his chest exposed and the blanket settled just at his waistline. The young woman left her bags in the kitchen and went to sit on the edge of the bed, shyly looking at Dabi. "I got muffins. I didn't know what kind you like so-"
A hand went to the back of her neck and she was pulled to him, her lips meeting his. He fell onto his back, bringing her down with him so she was on top of him, and wrapped an arm around her waist. When the kiss broke, he smirked up at her and ran his fingers through her hair. "I'm not leaving this bed again."
