I can't remember what your name was. Dabi lifted the little white rat, staring into its bright red eyes. He frowned when it leaned forward to tap its nose against his and he put it down in the cage again. It immediately scurried over to the handful of food he had just tossed in there and ate alongside its companion.
Feeding the rats was entertaining for a little while, but now he was bored again. Dabi spent most of his days napping, rummaging around for food in the kitchen like a trash panda, or going for walks to try to find someone challenging to fight. Although he was trying to limit how often he used his quirk to incinerate people. Not that he cared about them; he just hated the way Sayuri complained about the smell of burned skin and hair if he was hit with too much smoke.
A polite knock at the door made him look over and he crossed the apartment quietly, listening for the jingle of keys. Wishful thinking; he wanted Sayuri to come home early from her tutoring appointment, but he knew better. She cares about that kid like it's hers, he thought bitterly.
Looking through the peephole, Dabi's frown got deeper. He put a hand against the door and stayed completely still as he look out at Fuyumi. The young woman was frowning as well, but checking her phone. Typing something as Dabi watched from the other side of the door.
When she lifted her phone and started talking, her eyebrows raised and she looked away from the door in embarrassment. "Sorry, Sayuri! I forgot you weren't home today! Oh? Your boyfriend's home? No, no! That's okay! It can wait until tomorrow. Sorry to bother you. So…you're not busy tomorrow after work, right? Do you want to get coffee?"
There was a pang in his chest as a sense of familiarity came to him. The woman with red and white hair ended her call, tucked away her phone into her bag, and bowed at the door in a silent apology for disturbing him before she walked off. Dabi stayed there for a long moment, watching until Fuyumi disappeared from his line of sight. Remembering something from a long time ago.
He finally turned away from the door and ran a hand through his dark, spiky hair. Releasing a frustrated sigh, he trudged into the bedroom and let himself fall facedown onto the bed. Stupid. Why am I thinking about it? It's fuzzy.
Dabi shook his head, trying to clear the memory. Trying not to think about being a kid and his sister running up to him with that snowy-haired girl holding her hand. He rolled onto his back and looked at the poster above the bed. Meeting the upside down gaze of the hero Calorie Bomb. "What the hell are you staring at? You keep smiling like that. You don't even know, do you?"
He pushed himself up and onto his knees so he get could closer to the poster, gripping the headboard with one hand. A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. "You're dead. You don't matter anymore. You can't help her. She's got me now." Tilting his head, he leaned closer and lifted his left hand. Blue flames danced along his fingers and he was tempted to let them destroy the poster.
Melt the plastic overlay, burn the frame to tinder, crisp up the paper. Devour the signature and encouraging words from the hero. Burn away at it until his happy, grinning face was gone without a trace. He wanted to do it and he got so close to it, but he managed to stop himself.
Dabi knew exactly how she would react. She'd never forgive me if I did it, he thought with a grimace. He leaned back and shook his head. "Whatever. You're not worth a fight." The dark-haired man got off the bed and grabbed his hoodie out of the laundry basket.
Now he was in a bad mood again. Entertainment and fantasies of revenge could only take him so far before the bitterness came bubbling up again. Before, it was due to Sayuri being in such a rush to leave him so she could go tutor that kid. Now he was bitter at the thought of her really, truly leaving him.
He had so few things he actually care about and imagining life without Sayuri made him scowl. As he left the apartment, he felt that bad feeling grow. The idea of waking up alone, not seeing her rush around to get ready in the morning, not eating her mediocre cooking, not being able to see her smile or see her get flustered. Sitting alone in the evening instead of with Sayuri cuddling against him. Taking care of his own wounds and with no one to hold onto at night when he started to have dark, intrusive thoughts.
Dabi felt marginally better after he came across some unfortunate idiots that thought mugging him would be a good idea. Standing over their burning remains in a narrow alley, he watched the crackling blue flames and grinned. He pictured the father of that little girl being burned alive instead of the idiot he was staring down at. That pale-haired, serious-looking guy that was currently taking up Sayuri's time and keeping her away from him.
He waited for the flames to die down before pressing a boot down onto the skull of the closest person. Dabi lifted his leg and stomped down hard, listening to the satisfying crack of bone. He kicked the fragments further into the flames and watched the cinders shift before he turned away. His mood was elevated until the wind picked up. Ashes covered his clothes and the smoke blew directly onto him.
Shift P.O.V
"See? Isn't it cute? Everything looks like bunnies, right?" Sayuri smiled down at Eri as she settled the last onigiri into the bento box. Some of it looked kind of messy, some might say nightmarish, but she was sure it would at least taste good.
Eri was standing on tiptoe on the little stepstool next to her and stared down at the food with wide, sparkling red eyes. "It…it looks cute! Can we really eat it?" She looked to Sayuri with a worried frown.
"Of course!" She helped Eri down from the stool and picked up their bento boxes. A cute pink one for Eri and a lavender one for Sayuri. She had picked up these cheap plastic bento boxes from the store when she got the supplies for the meals so they were nothing special, but Eri seemed impressed.
As she settled the boxes on the table, she felt eyes on her. She lifted her gaze and met the golden eyes of Chisaki from across the kitchen. Sayuri forced a smile and nodded toward the counter. "There are some extras, if you're hungry."
This seemed to be all that Kurono needed to hear before helping himself to some of the left over onigiri. Chisaki shook his head and started toward the table, tugging absently at his blood-stained gloves to pull them higher up. "I'm not hungry," he began. "But I want to see what you made."
Sayuri focused on Eri as the little girl hesitantly picked up her fork. Watching her look apologetic as she used the fork to pick up a carrot that Sayuri had peeled to look like a rabbit. "It's okay. It's food, Eri-chan. You can eat it. It will be a sad bunny if you don't eat it," she assured her.
"O-okay." Eri took a bite and nodded, her eyes widening. "It's…really yummy!"
"I'm glad you like it. Go ahead and try everything, okay?" Sayuri picked up her own fork to start eating, but tensed when a hand gripped the back of her chair. Gloved fingers pressed against the back of her shoulder and she fought to keep her hands steady.
"A rabbit-themed bento? So this was the snack for today?" Chisaki's voice came from very close to her left side shortly before he leaned down. "Is this the sort of thing you make for your students? It looks childish. You're going to spoil them."
"It helps to make the food look cute, though," she argued. "Sometimes kids don't want to eat unless it's something really visually appealing. Some kids in my class are even really picky about texture or color. There's this one boy that won't eat anything that isn't red-"
"Are you a parent?"
Heat rose to her face and Sayuri bit the inside of her cheek. She gripped her fork a little harder. "I'm not a parent, but I'm a teacher. I went to college and studied child development and early childhood education."
"Don't you think that a child's parent should be the one to make the decisions?" Chisaki looked from Sayuri over to Eri, who set down her fork and lowered her head. "Do you like it? Are you enjoying the food that Naosu made for you?" He saw the little girl nod, her eyes teary. "What is it, Eri?" Chisaki's right hand left the back of Sayuri's chair and settled on her shoulder.
"I-I like it. It's cute," Eri spoke. "Don't…don't be mad at Sayuri. Please"
The pale-haired woman felt his fingers tighten on her shoulder for a second before loosening again. "Thank you, Eri-chan. Maybe next we can do a flower-themed bento." Sayuri put on a smile; trying to reassure the little girl.
"You really have a…talent…for working with children, don't you, Naosu? I could almost say that you're a natural. You have good maternal instincts."
She felt a prickly sensation along her arms and spine. The hair was standing up on the back of her neck. The young woman turned toward Chisaki with her practiced smile in place. She rested a hand on his forearm, mimicking his tendency to invade her personal space. "And you're a good father, Chisaki-san."
The man stared down at where her hand was making contact with his bare forearm. Hives were beginning to form from the skin on skin contact. As if in retaliation, a gloved hand took her left wrist and he drew it closer for him to inspect. "You took half of my injury earlier," he started as his free hand drew a finger along her half-healed wound. "Kurono said that he would take the injury so why did you split the damage?"
Sayuri tried to pull her hand back, but his hold on her wrist tightened. Her soft lilac eyes met the harsh golden ones of Chisaki and she almost flinched back. Her instincts were screaming at her, just like the time he had let her take Eri for a little walk in the garden. She felt the urge to run. Grab Eri and just sprint out of the house.
That would be kidnapping, she reminded herself. She held her smile in place and tilted her head slightly. "Kurono-san is always so polite and kind. I didn't think it was fair for him to take all of the pain. It was a deep cut. You should…really be more careful, Chisaki-san."
There was a slight muscular twitch behind his plain black medical mask. "I see. You think highly of Kurono, don't you?"
The pale-haired man was wearing a confused frown as he listened to this conversation and approached the table to pull out a chair. "Here you go, Kai."
The masked man appeared apprehensive about sitting down, but lowered himself onto the seat. "I apologize. I forgot that I was standing. I didn't mean to intimidate you, Naosu."
Still too close. Sayuri was extremely aware of how his chair was positioned so he could look at her. She felt a twisting feeling in her gut as Kurono seated himself as well. Eating anxiously, she glanced across at Eri. The little girl was staring at Sayuri with wide, worried eyes. Sayuri put on a real smile and lifted an apple bunny with her fork. "You need to eat some more, Eri-chan. You want to grow up to be big and strong, right?"
When the little girl had finished eating, Kurono offered to walk her back to her room while Sayuri cleaned up the kitchen. "Chisaki-san, most single parents are a little uneasy when their kid is at this age. They're still learning so much and they're just starting real school. It's a little overwhelming for parents and kids. You seem like you're pretty composed, for being so young."
Chisaki stood from the table, adjusting his gloves again. "What can I say? I've always had a fondness for things that are orderly. Clean. You feel the same way, don't you?" As he got close to her, he began to take in little details he had missed earlier. The glitter twinkling in her hair, the lingering smell of lemon-scented soap, and the still-healing scratch beneath her left eye.
"What happened here?" he questioned, reaching a gloved hand toward her. His finger traced the scratch and he raised an eyebrow when she flinched.
"My boyfriend. He got injured so I took the injury from him." She hoped that would be enough to make him back off. Her spine felt tingly and the prickly feeling on her skin had begun again.
He ran his thumb along the scratch a second time before lowering his hand. "And what kind of man is he that he let you hurt yourself for him?" Chisaki sighed through his mask and shook his head. "If you ask me, that just sounds irresponsible. Maybe it's for the best that you don't have children."
"It's not that I don't want children," she protested. Sayuri felt her face burning with embarrassment as she turned away to finish washing the bento boxes. "I just don't have any yet. That doesn't mean that I'll never have any."
For some reason, this seemed to satisfy him for a moment. He looked down at the sink full of soapy water and appeared to be carefully choosing his next words. "Eri's so fond of you. Just imagine how disappointed she would be if you ever stopped showing up. It would break her heart."
She felt a pang deep in her chest and she lowered her head. "I wouldn't abandon her." Just the thought of abandoning Eri the way that her own parents had abandoned her was enough to make her heart ache with despair. She turned to keep talking and she froze when she saw Chisaki removing his blood-stained gloves.
"You're dedicated. I admire that. It's less common with people our age nowadays, isn't it? But you've got some good values. You're…useful."
