In front of the house, a man was screaming. Fingers snapped backwards on his right hand, his clothes alight with crackling blue flames as he shrieked in agony at the top of his lungs. Men were rushing out of the house to try to come to his aide and put out the flames. No one having time to take notice of the stranger that slipped into the house as they were soon distracted by how the slim little trees were burning to a crisp in the night air. The fire was already spreading to the other plants.
Dabi stalked down the hallway, following the directions his "helpful acquaintance" had given him. He easily forced open the door and was met with the sight he had hoped for. A little girl with long, pale hair. She was curled up in a ball on the bed with her back against the wall. Trembling and staring up at him with wide, watery red eyes.
He glanced over his shoulder into the hall and stepped into the room, kicking the door closed behind him and keeping the sole of his boot against it to hold it closed. Dabi shrugged off his jacket and tossed it onto the end of the bed. "Put that on and make it quick. We still have to get Sayuri."
"S-Sayuri…?" She stared at the jacket and then looked up at Dabi again. "Are you…here to save Sayuri?" Hope glimmered in her eyes as her little hands grasped the fabric of his jacket.
"Yeah. So hurry up and put that on. We don't much time. They're gonna have someone start searching for me soon." Once the child was wearing his jacket, he scooped her up in his arms and stood near the door.
In the hallway outside, there were shouts of panic as the flames began to spread to the house. Only confirming his suspicion that the men he was dealing with were nothing but petty criminals. Villain wannabes. He tightened his hold on the child and pressed his ear against the door to listen closer.
Running footsteps could be heard. A sloshing of water as someone struggled with a bucket to try to go put out the flames. Frantic calls back and forth asking if anyone knew where their boss was. From what Dabi could tell, whoever it was that was really in charge here had stepped out with the group he saw leaving earlier.
Makes my job easier, he thought with a smirk. He glanced down at the little girl as he felt her trembling. Her eyes were closed and there were tears running down her face as she clutched the dark fabric of his jacket around her.
"You shouldn't help me," she said, her voice weak. "You're…going to get hurt. Sayuri, too! I don't…I don't want her to get hurt!"
Dabi clicked his tongue and he heard footsteps moving toward her door at a rapid pace. He backed away quickly and shifted the girl so she was on his right hip; freeing his left arm so he could use his quirk. "Well she'd never forgive me if I left you here, kid. So you're just gonna have to trust me. Close your eyes."
There were so few things he cared for anymore. After years of seeing what a dark, cruel, fake world this was, he found it hard to care much for anything. Sayuri was the biggest exception and she cared for this little girl so he knew what he had to do. If it was my kid, I'd probably make her look away anyway. The world's pretty rotten, but she doesn't have to see me make it worse.
The door flew open and a man in a suit stood there. Pausing for a moment before he turned his head to alert someone. Blue flames shot forward and sent him flying back against the opposite wall of the hallway. Clinging to his clothes, burning away his hair, consuming him as he screamed and flailed. As he tried to run off down the hallway and stumbled; spreading the flames further into the house.
Dabi held the kid closer against his side and looked toward the men running at him from the right, near the front of the house. He lifted his left hand as his eyes locked onto the men, letting blue fire dance on his palm and flicker in the air. "Think you can take the heat? Come on. You're all…seriously weak, you know that?"
Shift P.O.V
"You hear something?"
Sayuri glanced toward the window, frowning. Her hands gripped the recipe book a little tighter and she tilted her head. Pale hair fell forward over half of her face and she blinked up at Kurono. "No. What is it?"
He stared down at her, as if he thought she was playing dumb. Sitting at the table again, he shook his head. "Probably nothing."
She knew that Chisaki had gone out. Before she was put into her room, he had looked at Kurono and told him that he and "the others" were going out. His voice had dropped when he continued speaking to Kurono, but she had still managed to catch what was said. When he told Kurono that he could stay behind and do as he pleased, it made goose bumps rise on her skin.
Sayuri had been trying to avoid letting him get too close to her, but she had seen what his quirk could do. The idea of him making her unable to move, or slowing her movements, terrified her. Being stuck in place, unable to defend herself or get away from him. Being treated like some sort of reward for a job well done.
The pale-haired man was sitting beside her and studying the pages she was looking at. Leaning a bit too close for comfort. "Tomorrow, I think I want to try this one," he commented, pointing to a recipe in the book. "Think you can make it?"
The pale-haired young woman forced herself to smile. "I can try my best, Kurono-san." She shivered when she saw his eyes narrow. A cold, but somehow pleased, smile curving his lips as he leaned closer to her.
A hand settled on her lower back. A silent warning to keep still, which made her whole body tense up with unease. "You'd be a pretty decent housewife," Kurono remarked. "Wonder what Kai would think about getting you an apron. I could pick one up when I get you more clothes."
Her mind screamed at her to do something. Slap him across the face, push him away, scream at him to back off. However, her body was frozen in place from fear. Knowing that if she did any of those things, even if he let her get away with it unscathed, Chisaki would make sure she regretted her actions.
Sayuri was daydreaming about shoving him away, grabbing Eri, and running out of the house when the peaceful silence of the room was shattered by something horrific. A bloodcurdling scream could be heard outside, followed by howls of pure agony. Her nose twitched as she caught the faint smell of something familiar; cooked meat and burning hair. What is that?!
"What was that?" Kurono moved toward the window, where the sound had come in from, and sniffed at the air as well. Turning away from the window, his eyes had widened and he looked legitimately anxious. "Stay here," he ordered.
She watched him slip out of her room and heard him lock it behind him. Venturing over to the window, she heard shouting along with the crackling of flames. Her eyes widened as smoke billowed past her window and brought with it the intense smell of something burning. The young woman backed away from the window and looked toward her door.
What's burning, though? Her thoughts went to Dabi, but she bit her lip and tried to stop the excited racing of her heart. If it is him, he might get hurt! I don't know how many people are in this house and I don't know what kind of quirks or weapons they might have! If something happens to Dabi-!
Sayuri's eyes widened as the smell of smoke became more intense. An alarm was going off somewhere in the house, down the hallway from her. She heard something on the other side of her door seconds before she saw it forced open. Tears rose to her eyes and she covered her mouth.
Behind Dabi, the hallway was lit by the brilliant blue flames off to his left. Smoke was thick in the air and the second his sharp turquoise eyes landed on her soft lilac ones, he smirked and gave her a beckoning nod. He was holding Eri on his right hip and the little girl had her face pressed into his shoulder, but she looked up at Sayuri when the man called to her.
She sprinted across her room and threw her arms around both Dabi and Eri. Sobbing with relief and wanting to just revel in this moment, but there was no time. Dabi shoved her to his right side as he sent a blast of blue fire at the men running toward them down the hallway.
"How do we get out of here?" he half-shouted over the crackle of the flames. The hallway to his left was completely engulfed in flames and it was quickly spreading to the rest of the house. People were screaming as it caught onto their clothes and cooked their flesh.
He didn't even have an escape plan?! Sayuri grabbed his right sleeve and tugged, putting her free hand over her nose and mouth to minimize how much smoke she inhaled. The young woman led him toward the back of the house to the garden, but she was unsure of how they would escape from there. She had only seen part of it so whether there was a gate back there or not, she did not know.
He kept anyone from following them by sending a fresh burst of fire behind him every so often with his left hand. Still holding Eri on his right hip to keep her safe from the fire. Dabi's head was turned so he looked over his shoulder at the blazing, blue inferno behind him when they approached the door to the garden.
Sayuri burst through the door and out of the smoke-filled house. Taking in a deep breath of fresh, crisp night air. She turned to look at Dabi and a choked cry escaped her as a hand tangled in her pale hair. The young woman was forcefully yanked away from the doorway as Dabi and Eri emerged from the house, pulling her back against someone's chest as their free hand gripped her throat.
Her hands lifted on instinct and she dug her nails into the hand holding her neck. Thrashing and stomping as she tried to pull free. The grip on her throat tightened and blunt nails sank into her skin as she gasped for air.
"Keep struggling and I'll have to use my quirk on you," Kurono warned.
Shit! Shit, shit, shit! Sayuri went still and met Dabi's gaze when he looked over. The man's bright turquoise eyes narrowed with malice and his mouth twisted into a scowl. "St-stay back!" she choked out.
"Might want to listen to your girl." Kurono kept his fingers tangled in her hair and lowered his hand from her throat. Digging his hand into his pocket and bringing forth a dart gun. His arm slipped beneath her bust and forced her tighter against his chest, making her wince. The gun pointed up beneath her chin, loaded with an unknown dart. "You don't know what I've got in this dart. Might be poison. Might be a tranquilizer. You want to take that risk?"
Dabi gritted his teeth and tightened his hold on Eri. Looking from Kurono to Sayuri. Seeing the tears roll down her face as the man's hand yanked harshly at her long, pale hair. "Seriously? I burned down your house. You really think you're gonna get out of this on top? You must be…pretty stupid."
"Put the kid down."
"Nah. I don't think I'm gonna do that."
"Why do you even want the kid? She's nobody special." Kurono pulled the gun away from Sayuri's chin and pointed it at Dabi. "Put her down and just walk out of here or my finger might slip and-"
"Just run! Please take her away from here and run! Don't worry about me! Just save her! Please!" Sayuri screamed this, hoping that Dabi would honor her wishes and try to escape with the child. As long as Eri's safe, that's all that matters! I just want her to be safe! Please, Dabi!
"What do you think is going to happen to you if Eri escapes?" Kurono hissed. Yanking her head back toward his shoulder and glaring down at her coldly. "Kai's quirk is more than putting somebody back together; it goes both ways. You really wanna know what it feels like to be blown apart and reassembled?"
Her blood ran cold and she closed her eyes as his mouth moved right beside her ear. Hissing more threats that made her begin to tremble with terror. When she opened her eyes, they widened. Kurono had to move quickly to avoid the flames shooting toward them and in the man's moment of panic, his hold on her loosened enough for the young woman to slip away from him.
The seams between Dabi's scarred flesh and his normal skin was beginning to bleed a little beneath one eye and along his left cheek. His eyes were wide, two-toned lips drawn back into a crazed grin that tugged at his staples. Threatening to bust open along the seams. He started toward Kurono with his left arm out, letting the flames force the man to move back toward the burning house in order to avoid the line of blue fire.
Sayuri was on the other side of the blast, facing Kurono through the flickering heat. Her scalp aching and the intense temperature of Dabi's fire making her sweat. She edged closer to Dabi's side and then around to where Eri was clinging to his right. "Let's go! We need to leave before Chisaki comes back!"
"What're you talking about? We've gotta finish this now or else-!"
"Come on! Now, Dabi!" She reached toward his left arm, forcing him to stop his quirk to avoid the flames catching onto her. Sayuri grabbed his wrist and began to run. Leading him to the far end of the garden and then along the wall. Searching desperately for some way to escape as flames ate away at the entire house.
There was no way out from the back garden. At least, no way that she could see easily. Sayuri began to panic as she glanced toward the house and saw Kurono watching her. His normally cold eyes filled with a burning hatred as they fixed upon her. Taking slow, confident steps toward them.
An arm wrapped around Sayuri while she was distracted and a blast of blue fire engulfed the grass beneath her as Dabi used his quirk to force all three of them into the air high enough to get to the top of the wall. He leapt down with her, still holding Eri, and led Sayuri off toward an alley. Leaving the house blazing behind them in the distance.
