Sayuri had been gone for a little over an hour. When it became clear it was going to be a while before she returned, he finally summoned forth enough motivation to get out of bed and look for some clean clothes. A freshly washed pair of pants and shirt were on the floor in a pile with the rest of the clean laundry.
Dabi was pulling his shirt on when he paused and looked toward the framed poster over her bed. His eyes narrowed on the hero on the poster and he finished putting on his shirt. Everything about the poster was making him frown.
She never talked about it, but this was clearly important to her. Whoever the hero Calorie Bomb was, he was someone she either looked up to in the past or still admired. If the personalized message was any indication, she meant something to Calorie Bomb, too.
The handwritten message on the poster read "Sayuri, don't let anyone crush your spirit! Follow your dreams! Whatever you want to do, remember that you'll always have my support! –Calorie Bomb".
As Dabi read it again, he found his eyes drifting to that smile. The hero's face looked like he was on the verge of bursting into laughter. It sort of felt like he was mocking Dabi. Like this hero knew that his picture was hanging over a girl's bed and most likely occupied her thoughts on some level.
I've never even heard of you. If she liked you so much, she would've mentioned you, right? The corners of his lips drew back as turned away from the poster and ventured out of her room to find food.
He was unsure if Sayuri had already fed the rats, but decided to feed them himself anyway. Dabi dropped a handful of pellets into the cage and watched the pale little creatures enjoy their meal. The sight of their little paws gripping a pellet as they chewed brought him a bit of entertainment.
A container of leftovers was grabbed from the fridge and he made himself comfortable on the couch. The food was cold, poorly seasoned. Not that he really cared at this point. The leftovers were more or less shoveled into his mouth as he thought about what he would do when she came home.
Right now, Dabi had few goals. He was kind of directionless. Going out and using his quirk every chance he got, challenging himself more for fun than for any other reason. What solid goals he did have were all Sayuri-related. He wanted to get revenge for what Endeavor did to her. He wanted to get rid of anyone that threatened to spoil her innocence.
They never really discussed the future because she never seemed to question it. Sayuri never got mad about him not having a job. She barely even questioned what he did while she was at work.
Whether she knew it or not, he planned for this relationship to be long-term. It was definitely not what he had intended the first time he said he wanted to keep her, but the more time he spent with Sayuri, the more he decided that he liked this. He liked it too much to even consider letting her go.
Dabi dropped the empty container onto the floor and leaned forward on the couch, staring at the rat cage. The animals had finished devouring the pellets and were now settling into the corner together for a nap. He frowned and leaned back onto the dark blue cushions.
She's taking too long. I can't believe she's still friends with that girl. After everything Endeavor put her through. Dabi's eyes closed and he ran his fingers through his messy black hair, feeling frustrated.
It had started to bother him. There was this fuzzy, faded memory that he had from what could only be childhood. A memory of a girl with hair the color of snow, covered in bruises and scrapes, crying softly. It felt like something from another life almost and he was having trouble remembering any other details involved.
His eyes opened and he leaned forward again, glaring down at the floor. Dabi pushed away the thoughts and decided to watch television until she returned. He was only partially paying attention; his mind wandering to something else he had pushed to the back of his mind.
I wonder how she's gonna react. The memory of burning her male coworker alive was still fresh. He remembered how the man offered his wallet, thinking that it had just been a mugging. She'd be mad if she knew, right? How am I gonna keep a straight face tomorrow?
Shift P.O.V
"There's no way you'll have time for that. Sayuri, you already work full time! You can't add tutoring on top of that!"
She frowned, but this reaction came as no surprise to her. Fuyumi knew how stressful teaching could get, even with simpler lesson plans. "It's hard to say "no". You didn't see how sad she looked when I left!"
"I understand, but you're going to push yourself too much if you do this. You'll exhaust yourself."
"I know, I just…I hate disappointing people." Sayuri was nearing her apartment building and moved her phone to her left ear as she dug in her bag for her keys. "I have a week to think it over. Maybe…I can figure something out. Maybe. There has to be some way that I can help."
There was a slight pause before Fuyumi spoke again. "Your boyfriend…isn't the jealous type, is he? The girl's father is single and raising her himself, isn't he? I know it's up to you, but what if your boyfriend gets jealous of the girl's father? If you tutor her, you'll be spending a lot of time with them both."
Sayuri's frown deepened and she slowed her steps. "I don't think he's the jealous type," she replied, but she was honestly unsure. "I guess I should think this over some more before I make a decision. You're right; I really shouldn't push myself too much. It's not fair to my students or to Eri-chan."
She lowered her head, her shoulders slouching a bit. "I just…there isn't much I can do, you know? So whatever I'm able to do to help her, I want to do it. I know what it's like to be abandoned by a parent. I mean, both of mine cut out after I refused to do what they wanted me to do. So I don't want Eri-chan to feel the way I did…"
Fuyumi sighed. "You really are too nice sometimes, Sayuri. But that's who you are. Maybe there's some way you can still help her."
"Yeah. I'm sure there is. I'll figure out something. Thanks for listening, Fuyumi." She ended the call as she approached her door, her phone being tucked into her bag again.
Sayuri was met with the sight of Dabi sitting on the couch and eating some more of the chocolates she had given him for Valentine's Day. When their eyes met, he half-grinned and stayed where he was seated. "Sorry that I was gone for so long."
"Have fun?"
She subconsciously rubbed at her freshly scarred forearm and approached the couch. "I guess? It was just coffee." Sayuri disliked lying to him and saying she had gone with Fuyumi, but she had been afraid that he might try to go with her to the home visit. "Don't tell me you had some fun while I was gone," she attempted to tease him.
His grin spread a little and he raised an eyebrow. "What? Are you afraid you might've missed out?"
The young woman stood in front of him and crossed her arms, pouting that her taunt had been so easily countered. Worse yet, her face was starting to feel warm with a blush. "So you're…pretty good at entertaining yourself then?" she tried again.
Fingers gripped the buckle of her belt and Dabi pulled her down so she straddled his lap. His free hand slid up her lower back, beneath the edge of her sweater and t-shirt. Heated fingertips glided along her skin and made her back arch in response. He leaned up to her ear, his staples brushing over her neck along the way. "I can keep myself happy, but I'd rather have you do it."
Sayuri's belt was released, but that hand was soon tangling into her pale hair and drawing her head back a little. Her mouth was covered by his and she slid her arms around his neck. Her fingers ran through his hair, nails gently scraping over his scalp. She muffled a groan from him that was quickly followed by his hips lifting, grinding against her as the hand on her back kept her close.
In a few seconds, the young woman was lifted and carried to the bedroom. Her back met the mattress, his hands quickly sliding beneath her sweater and shirt to pull them off of her. Sayuri's face went from pink to red as all of her scars were revealed. She was about to protest, but had to bite her lip as he latched his mouth onto the scar on her collarbone.
What is he thinking? It's a Sunday! All of my neighbors are home and…someone might hear…She closed her eyes and panted as he drew away from her scar. Fingers slid to her belt, making quick work of opening it as he moved on to the next scar that they both shared. Each scar they had in common, he left marked with light teeth marks and shallow bruises.
"D-Dabi, wait." Thankfully, he did as she said and stared down at her curiously. Sayuri pushed herself up and managed to push him down onto the bed on his back. His bright turquoise eyes widened momentarily as she sat on his waist, surprised that she was doing something so bold.
She traced her fingers along lines of staples, skimming over the heated border between burned flesh and the peachy smoothness of undamaged skin. The young man beneath her released a sharp hiss when she skimmed along his waistline and bucked his hips into hers, making her feel his need. In her surprise, her nails shallowly dug into his skin and it forced a groan from him.
"Tease." The word was growled and soon Sayuri was under him again. Dabi braced a hand against the mattress to the side of her head, his face hovering inches away from hers. The wolfish expression he was wearing made her shiver and he tangled his free hand in her hair. "I hope you can handle this. You really got me excited now, Sayuri. You'll be lucky if you can walk when I'm done."
Hours later, they were lying on her couch while a movie played on the television. Sayuri's hair was still wet from a shower, her face a bright shade of pink as she kept thinking about what they did. She was lying on top of Dabi while they watched the movie so she could feel the warmth of his body through the thin fabric of his shirt. It did nothing to make her blush fade.
Moving so she was sitting between his legs, her back against his chest, she held one of his hands in hers. A fingertip lightly skimmed over the line of staples and she tilted her head, once more wondering about what had happened to him to make him this way. She knew it had to be painful; the burns were really deep. Asking about it would probably upset him and she wanted to keep things light.
Dabi's eyes were, unfortunately, drawn to her hand when she grabbed his. She was wearing a shirt with short sleeves now so he immediately took notice of the scar on the inside of her forearm. He had failed to notice it earlier since they were busy, but now his eyes narrowed on the scar.
He took her wrist and drew her arm back so he could look at it more closely. "What happened to your arm?"
"Oh. Um. It's not a big deal. I took someone's injury," she tried to explain, without mentioning Eri.
"Is this from your friend? This…looks like a clean cut. Like it's from a knife."
"What?" Sayuri leaned back, trying to look at her arm. Like it's from a knife? Like it's self-inflicted or like from a cooking accident?
"Stop squirming. You're going to get me excited again," he taunted.
She went still, feeling like she was blushing so intensely her face might be steaming. Sayuri felt warm breath caress her wrist before he kissed the scar. She bit back a surprised yelp and when he released her arm, she drew it to her chest. "What was that about?"
Rather than offer an answer, his arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her tighter against his chest. One leg moved between hers and he relaxed back against the dark blue cushions of the couch. The movie on the television progressed as the two watched in silence.
Finally, he spoke again. "You…need to stop taking so many scars. You're gonna cover all of mine."
"Why are you worried about that? Are you leaving me and they're going to be the only thing I have to remember you by?" she muttered.
"I'm not leaving. I just don't like seeing other people's marks on you."
Is he…jealous? She twisted around so she faced him, a hand planted on his chest and her face a few inches from his. "Dabi? Are you jealous of Fuyumi?" She decided to test to first see if he was jealous of her best friend.
He smirked and leaned up to her ear. "What if I am? Are you gonna do something to make it up to me?"
Sayuri jolted and pushed herself to sit up, straddling him and looking down at the young man. "I forgot to get something for dinner! I knew I was forgetting something!"
