"Naosu isn't coming today. So no one cares about your tears. Just behave and stop making so much noise."
He knew what he would see if he turned his head. The pale-haired little girl sniffling with tears rolling down her face. Freshly healed incisions on her arms with new bandages wrapping her from her wrist to just below her elbow. Her expression was pure despair; knowing that the woman was not coming to comfort her.
"If she really cared, she would be here every day," he continued with a sigh. "She'd want to stay here. But no. She's fickle. Even if she comes to see you, she always leaves. She loves her boyfriend more than you, Eri. That's what it really comes down to. Why love someone else's child when she could have her own with him? Some day she might not come back."
It was cruel and he knew it. Emotionally torturing a child. Twisting her perspective and making Naosu look evil when she was probably the only one that truly cared about Eri. A bizarre, motherly love that Chisaki saw every time the woman interacted with the girl.
As strange as it was, it was a love that he knew he could use to his benefit. Whenever she did visit, Eri was more compliant. With the silent threat of Naosu possibly being harmed, the child was quieter and cooperated. She stopped herself from running, screaming, or crying if she knew that she would see Naosu after her "treatment".
Once Eri was locked in her room, Kurono gave him a slightly curious sort of frown. "Kai, do you want Naosu?"
He started down the hallway, tugging his gloves higher and his eyebrows furrowed. "In a manner of speaking. That woman interests me."
"You want to have her around full time? Need me to get her?"
"I'm going to ask her when the time's right. There are still some details to work out. That…disease…of hers. I want to test it some more before I make a decision about this."
"Oh, yeah. She's got that healing quirk."
Chisaki stepped into his office and sat on a couch, his elbows resting on his knees as he frowned behind his mask. "She's able to take injuries from other people onto herself and claims that she can transfer injuries from one person to another person. I haven't seen her do that yet so I'm not sure if it's an embellishment. What I do know is that her own healing ability isn't anything impressive; she heals at the same rate as a normal person."
Kurono closed the door behind him and nodded. "Yeah, that's kinda useless. What good is it to take someone's injury if it takes her the same amount of time to heal?"
"I'm interested in finding out if she really is capable of transferring injuries. If she can do that…" Chisaki slipped off his left glove and stared down at his bare hand. "If she's able to transfer the wounds to someone else, she'd save me the trouble of getting my hands dirty or having to use Eri's disease."
He put his glove on again and sighed once more. "There are a few issues to work out. I intend to present the idea to her like a job offer; a live-in caretaker position. I want to isolate her from the filth outside so she won't contaminate me."
"Her boyfriend's gonna be a problem, then."
Chisaki looked to Kurono, his golden eyes narrowed. "You don't understand? Fine. I'll explain it to you. I'm going to test Naosu the next time she comes to see Eri. I'll need your complete cooperation and a small sacrifice. And if the results of the test prove useful to us, we'll move on to the next phase; presenting my offer. If she accepts, it'll make things a lot easier."
"And if she says no? You want me to take her out?"
"If she says no, I want you to follow her. Someone needs to see her after she's left the compound. I'd prefer it if she gets caught on surveillance cameras in a store. People need to see her after she's left." He tugged at his gloves again before continuing. "When she disappears, her boyfriend will take the blame."
Shift P.O.V
"Sayuri. Your phone's ringing."
She had her head down, scrolling through some video thumbnails on her laptop. I want to be able to show Eri how to make a bento. But it has to be an easy one. I'm still not great at cooking. Maybe something without meat? So do I buy enough for just two meals or should I buy enough to make some for Chisaki and Kurono?
"I thought you didn't have any friends besides Fuyumi. Is this another teacher or something?" Dabi called from the bedroom. Unlike Sayuri, he had opted to sleep in. The only problem was that her phone was charging on the table next to the bed and dragged him into consciousness when it started ringing.
Sayuri toyed with a stray lock of white hair that hung beside her face. A pouting frown started to form on her lips as she tilted her head. Maybe a rabbit themed bento? Or cats? I don't think she'd like the bear one. What's Kurono's relationship with Chisaki anyway? Are they just friends or-?
"Babe, who's Sumire?" The dark-haired young man fell onto the couch next to her, causing her to bounce a little. Dabi was only wearing a loose pair of black sweatpants and pulled her onto his lap as he stretched out across the couch cushions.
She narrowly managed to avoid dropping her laptop and closed it. "What did you say? Sorry; I was looking at bento ideas." Her arms slipped around his neck as she turned to face him.
"Who's Sumire?" Dabi saw her lilac eyes go wide and he frowned. "What? You missed a call from someone named Sumire."
The young woman swore quietly and tried to get up, planning to go to her room to get her phone. His arms slid around her waist and held her tightly against him. "Dabi, I have to call her back!"
"You didn't answer my question. She a coworker or something?"
"That's my aunt," she replied, her eyes shifting to the side. "She's…the only member of my family that still kind of talks to me after my parents stopped. I have to call her back."
When he grudgingly let go, Sayuri hurried to her room, but paused as she stepped through the doorway. Her gaze lifted to the poster over her bed. Meeting the soft blue eyes of the hero on the poster and feeling a tightness in her chest. Picking up her cellphone, she settled on her bed and called her aunt.
Sayuri's aunt was much older than her mother. To be fair, her mother and her aunt were only half-sisters. Nevertheless, Shirayuki Sumire was always kind to her. Which was why she felt so horrible about missing her call. They rarely had the chance to talk due to Sayuri's busy schedule.
The phone was answered not by the warm voice of her aunt, but by the soft, hesitant voice of her second cousin. "…hello…?"
"Ah! Sorry! Is Shirayuki Sumire there?" Sayuri felt awkward now. The tightness in her chest was increasing. She had not seen her little cousin in quite a while and she was unsure of what to say to her.
There was a pause before the old woman answered. "Sayuri! I'm sorry I missed you earlier! How are you?"
She smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear as she talked to her aunt. She talked about her job as a teacher and mentioned that she was a tutor on the side for a little girl. Her aunt was genuinely happy for her; a reaction Sayuri knew she would never get from her own mother. "S-so how's…you know? How's Ume-chan? I don't think I've seen her since before…"
"Oh, she's doing alright. You know, she got accepted into UA! Isn't that fantastic? I knew she could do it! Sayuri, we'll have to do something to celebrate. I'm sure she would love to see you-!"
"I…can't. Auntie, I'm sorry, but I just couldn't. I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. I want to go, but seeing her would just be…" Tears rose to her eyes as she leaned forward and turned to stare up at her Calorie Bomb poster. Staring at her cousin's smile and knowing that seeing his daughter would hurt her too much.
There was a pause before the old woman responded. "I'm sorry. No, I understand. I do. Ume really does look more like him than her mother. Maybe some other time. It's alright."
When the call ended, Sayuri curled up in a ball on her side. I need to take the poster down. He's been dead for years. But if I put it away, it will really feel like he's gone.
The mattress dipped at her side and Dabi leaned back against the pillow on his side of the bed. "What was that about?"
"…doesn't matter…" she mumbled, pressing her face into her own pillow. "I just need a few minutes."
He sighed in frustration and turned onto his side. Wrapping his arms around her, pulling her back against his chest. "Guess I shouldn't have told you."
"No! I'm glad you did. I'm just…" Sayuri felt his left hand resting on her hip, his right hand trailing up her chest to settle beneath her bust. She flushed pink and bit her lip, trying to focus on what she was saying. "My little cousin got accepted into UA. My aunt wanted to celebrate and I want to go. I haven't seen her or my cousin in a long time. Not since…I lost someone really important to me."
His hold tightened and his warm breath skimmed along the back of her neck, a staple scraping over her skin and making her quiver. "What? More important than your first love?" he taunted. "What was that kid's name?"
"Touya." Her voice was breaking and she struggled as a lump formed in her throat. "And…yeah. He was more important than Touya."
Shift P.O.V
More important than me? His eyes narrowed and he pressed his hips forward against her bottom. "Calorie Bomb? That…nerd on that poster over the bed?"
"Don't call him that! He wasn't…just some hero that I looked up to! I loved him like a brother! Even when my parents didn't care about me, he still did! They wouldn't protect me! My own parents didn't care that Endeavor made me take those injuries from his son over and over again! But my cousin…when he found out what was happening…he took care of me and he put a stop to it."
Calorie Bomb. Dabi's eyes shifted to the side and he could see the poster from the edge of his vision. The hero, grinning down at them like he was stifling a laugh. He had a vague memory. A fuzzy, deeply buried memory of having seen that face a long time ago. So that's it.
"I want to be there for my cousin, but she looks too much like him. I couldn't handle it. I'm a coward. I'm letting her down just like how I let Eri-chan down." Sayuri trembled against his chest and actually started hiccupping.
Damn it. He was having a flashback to the day he held her when they were kids. She was basically the same as back then; shaking, crying, inconsolable. I didn't know what to do back then, he remembered as he grimaced.
Dabi turned onto his back and dragged her so she was lying with her head resting on his chest. Both of his arms wrapped around her and he let her warm tears fall freely onto his bare skin. His fingers ran through her pale hair as he struggled between the flicker of guilt and the undeniable lust that came with having his girlfriend's chest pressing against his side.
Honestly, there was hardly anything in the world that he loved. Just months ago, he would have gladly watched everything go up in bright blue flames around him and burn to ashes. However, now he did have something he cared for. He had already put in so much work to keep Sayuri his and only his. Doing a little more to drag her out this depressive state would probably be worth the reward it brought.
"Get dressed. We're gonna go out." Dabi pulled away from her and forced himself to rummage in the laundry basket for some clean clothes. They were wrinkled because Sayuri had yet to fold them, but that never bothered him before.
She pushed herself to sit up and wiped at her eyes. "Where are we going? I thought you wanted to stay in the apartment today."
He rolled his eyes and picked up his cellphone. "Just do it." As Dabi walked out of her room, he opened a search and looked for "Shirayuki Sumire" since he heard her say that name earlier. He almost scoffed at how easy it was to find her home address.
He never did something this stupidly sentimental, but Dabi just told himself he was doing it for the reward. If he let her see her aunt and cousin from a distance, it would probably be enough to pull her out of this slump. It just annoyed him to see her moping around like this. It was totally unlike the healer he first decided to make his.
Sayuri emerged from her room wearing a lavender sweater and pale grey skirt. She was slouching and sighed when she saw him smirk. "What?"
"That's what you're wearing for a date? That's…seriously it?"
She bit her lip and advanced on him. Apparently feeling bold, she lifted a hand and threaded her fingers into his dark hair. Sayuri pulled his face down to hers, her lips crashing against his as she tried to silently reassure him that she was alright. When she broke the kiss, she was blushing pink. "You didn't say it was a date," she protested. "But I guess…I'll just have to make up for the bland outfit some other way."
