For just a second, Sayuri was afraid it was all a dream. It just seemed too perfect; the epic rescue, finding such a perfect hiding place. What really made her question her reality was when she remembered Dabi's confession.
Touya. Her eyelids fluttered open and she pushed herself to sit up. Shivering under the thin blanket that was wrapped around her. Her eyes widened when she realized that Dabi and Eri were gone.
She struggled to her feet and hurried toward the door, letting the blanket drop. She wanted to call out for them, but stopped herself. If Kurono or someone else had tracked her to the building, she might give away her hiding place.
Eri! Where's Eri?! I have to find her! I've seen what Chisaki does to her without even having a reason. If he finds her now…Sayuri's pulse was racing as she neared the door to the storage room and finally emerged into the main area.
The previous night when Dabi led them in, they had to navigate through a maze of office furniture. Desks, chairs, busted computers, file cabinets, and boxes. When Sayuri emerged into this mess, her lilac eyes briefly shifted around the room until they landed on something that made her breath catch in her throat.
The little girl was sitting on one of the old desks, wearing Dabi's jacket and staring in amazement at the bun he was unwrapping for her. When she seemed to sense Sayuri looking at her, she lifted her wide red eyes. "Sayuri…?"
"Sayuri? What? You're finally awake? You slept more than the kid did." Dabi finished unwrapping the food and handed it over to Eri, who stared at it for a moment before taking a bite. He turned his attention to Sayuri and smirked. "What's the matter? You look surprised to see me."
"You…idiot! Don't mess with me like that," she mumbled. "The last time you disappeared-"
"We're not gonna talk about that right now. We've got other stuff to worry about. I got some new clothes for you last night. Take the kid to change and I'll get rid of those…whatever you're wearing right now."
She glanced down at her nightgown and warmth spread across her face. I forgot that I was wearing this. It was embarrassing; wearing something so frilly and so completely not her style. Of course, it was the only sleepwear she had when she was being held captive. She really had no other options.
She accepted a couple of bags from Dabi and led Eri back into the room, leaving her childhood crush to stand guard while they changed. The clothes he got for Eri were a little big, but they would definitely hide her identity. He somehow managed to get a pair of jeans that looked like they might have been intended for a boy and a t-shirt with a panda on the front. With the oversized hoodie on top of the shirt and with the hood pulled up, Eri could almost pass for a little boy.
Sayuri was just glad to be able to wear pants again. The whole time she was living in Chisaki's home, her only options were dresses and skirts. Putting on a pair of light gray jeans and a pale purple t-shirt with a black hoodie over it, she felt more like her old self. Just a little more confident.
Eri stood quietly for a while, watching Sayuri brush some dust off of her hoodie. "He's being really nice to us. I don't…I don't want anything bad to happen to him."
She crouched down and gently smoothed a stray lock of pale hair away from the child's face. "Eri, we're not going to let Chisaki take you back. But Dabi is really strong. You saw his quirk, didn't you?"
The little girl nodded. "It was pretty."
A smile tugged at her lips, trying to imagine how Dabi would react to someone telling him that his fire was pretty. "And it was powerful, wasn't it?"
"He…he made Kurono let go of you. Kurono was afraid of it." Eri tilted her head after Sayuri pulled up her hood, staring up at the young woman. "I wish I could be like that. I could help people."
Her arms slid around the child in a hug and Sayuri lifted her onto her hip, unable to hide her smile anymore. "Eri, you'll be able to help people no matter. You've got a good heart."
"A good…heart?"
"That's what really matters. It doesn't matter what kind of quirk you have, as long as you have a good heart. You could even be quirk-less and still help people!"
Dabi greeted them with a raised eyebrow, lazily glancing from the kid to Sayuri. "What were you telling her?"
"I-I want to help people," Eri announced.
"I was telling her that as long as someone's got a good heart, they can help people." Her smile turned taunting as she walked past Dabi toward the broken window they had come in through. "Even if they're a jerk that disappears for a long time and doesn't bother to announce it when they come back."
A finger hooked through her back belt loop and tugged. She fell against his chest and tipped her head back to meet his smirk with a frown. Before she could say anything, he leaned down and covered her lips with his. The rough, scarred flesh of his lower lip scraped against hers and his free hand slid beneath her chin to keep her from breaking the kiss until he was ready.
When he finally let go, he licked his lips and saw her face going red. "What about crybabies that let people push them around?" he teased.
She blinked up at him and then looked away, her confidence overtaken by embarrassment. "Y-yeah? Yeah, even they can help people. Sometimes they just take too much, though."
"They've just gotta learn when to say "no"." Dabi's fingertips trailed down along her throat until they skimmed over the deep scar on her collarbone. The scar that matched one of his from the night they had first reunited. "You'll learn. Come on; I'm walking ahead of you in case that freak shows up."
Sayuri let him take her hand, basking in the warmth radiating off of his skin. It was cold inside of the building and she was sure it was probably cold outside. It was only spring and she could tell it was still decently early in the morning.
"He's not the one that you need to be worried about," she started.
"What're you talking about? That guy with the white hair was her dad, right? He was the one that you were working for."
"No. Dabi, that wasn't him. That was his…friend? Boyfriend? Assistant? But that wasn't Eri's father." She felt Eri grip onto her hoodie and the little girl buried her face in Sayuri's shoulder. "It's okay, Eri. He's not going to take you back. I promised, remember?"
Dabi looked over his shoulder, irritated. "So what's he look like?"
She did her best to describe Chisaki, but when it came to telling Dabi what his quirk was, she was unsure of what to say. Sayuri had only experienced it firsthand once and it was when he healed the cut on her cheekbone. She knew he healed all of Eri's cuts after her treatments, but Kurono had said something before she managed to escape. Something about Chisaki being able to disassemble and reassemble someone.
"He left before you showed up," she continued. "I don't know where he went or what he was doing, but he wasn't at the house when you started burning everything."
"Saying it like it's a bad thing," he teased. "So what's the problem? Sounds like he's a shitty dad. What does he care if his kid gets taken away?"
"I don't know." Sayuri looked down at Eri, who was still hiding her face. "But he's probably not going to give up on trying to find her. We have to find a better hiding place. Maybe if we talked to…er…well, maybe if I talk to Fuyumi-"
"Not gonna happen. You're not going to that place." His hand tightened around hers and when she moved beside him, she saw the muscles in his jaw tensing. "We'll find a place to hide out until the heat dies down. Give him long enough and he'll probably just get sick of looking for you both."
They moved down the sidewalk at a steady pace. Everyone they passed saw only a young couple and their very shy child rather than an arsonist, his girlfriend, and the little girl they were trying to protect. Sayuri tried to keep her head lowered as they walked; holding Dabi's hand and biting the inside of her cheek as he led her.
Touya. Where did you go for all those years? No one told me what happened to you. You just disappeared one day. What happened to you on Christmas night? You never really explained it. I found you lying half-dead in the snow. What would have happened if I didn't see you there?
Just the thought of it made her chest tighten. Imagining him freezing to death. Her childhood friend. Her first love. The fact that their paths happened to cross that night and she took the initiative to bring him home with her and heal him seemed to be proof that they were meant to be together.
"Here. Come on. Stay close." Dabi pushed open the door to a shop and they were met with aromas that made Sayuri's stomach growl. Coffee, tea, freshly baked pastries and bread. He led her over to a table near the counter, as far from the window as possible. "Keep your hoods up. I'm gonna find a new place for us to hide out for a while. Stay here. And if-"
"If they show up, I'm not letting them take us," Sayuri interrupted. She glanced toward the door and then back to him. "Hurry back."
"Right. Here. Get some food. I got the kid a custard bun, but I heard your stomach growling." Dabi put some cash in front of her on the table before he hurried outside again.
"It's…nice in here," Eri commented, looking up at Sayuri.
She managed a smile, despite feeling uneasy about separating from Dabi. "It is, isn't it? I'm going to order breakfast, okay? Stay here." She walked over to the counter and was greeted by a young woman a bit younger than her.
"Hey there. What can I get for you?" The clerk grinned across at her and brushed her dark blue-green hair away from her eyes.
"Could I get one hot chocolate, one coffee with milk and sugar, and then two of this pastry?" Sayuri pointed to the display case to the side.
"Sure thing. Just a second, okay?" The clerk turned to the other woman behind the counter. "Hey, Misora-san? This one's on me, okay?"
"Hm?" The woman with long, wavy blue hair turned to look over her shoulder and her eyes went from Sayuri to Eri. "Oh! No, don't worry about it, Okabe." She went over to the display case and filled up a plate with a few pastries before offering it to Sayuri over the counter. "Naosu-sensei, they said you resigned, but I didn't know you had a little one, too! What's her name?"
Sayuri blinked as it finally set in. This was the mother of one of her students. "Yawarakai-san! Wow! I didn't recognize you!"
"It's the apron, right?" She smiled and pushed the plate closer. "Here. It's the least I can do for you. So what's your daughter's name? How old is she?"
"That's Emi," she replied, knowing she had to keep Eri's name a secret. The last thing she wanted was for Chisaki to harm this woman. Out of all of the students' parents, Yawarakai Misora was by far the most pleasant to talk to. "She's six. I've been homeschooling her. Well, my boyfriend has. Her father is…well we're trying to avoid him."
The teal-haired girl behind the counter tilted her head as she caught Sayuri's meaning. "Misora-san?" Seeing her boss nod, she looked toward the door and tapped a fingernail against the counter. "We don't tolerate creeps. So no worries. If that jerk comes through that door and starts harassing you, I'll toss him out on his ass." She kept her voice down to prevent Eri from hearing.
As much as Sayuri wanted to tell the girl to not try to fight Chisaki, something told her that her warning would fall on deaf ears. She heard running footsteps off to the side behind a door and tensed, but when the door opened she was greeted by the sight of Misora's daughter.
"Naosu-sensei! Where've you been? What are you doing at the café?" The little girl hugged Sayuri, but froze when her eyes settled on Eri at the table. She let go of Sayuri and tilted her head. "Who is that?"
"That's Emi-chan. She's Naosu-sensei's daughter," Misora answered.
"Oh. Oh! Does she want to play? Sensei, I have a new coloring book! Does she like coloring? What's her favorite color? How old is she? Does she like cats?"
This…might be a good opportunity. Sayuri looked to the girl's mother. "Yawarakai-san, would it be okay if we-?"
"Of course! That was your boyfriend that came in with you, right? We'll watch for him and let you know when he's back," the woman assured her.
"Thank you. I really owe you." Sayuri walked over to the table and gently took Eri's hand. "Emi-chan, do you want to come upstairs with me? Michiko-chan has a coloring book she wants to show you."
"M-Michiko…chan?" Eri looked past her at the blue-haired little girl, who smiled at her and waved. "Um…I don't know…"
Completely undeterred, the other child ran over to the table. "Do you want to be friends with me?"
"Friends…?" The pale-haired girl looked uncertainly at the hand that the other girl extended. "You…you want to be friends with me?"
Has Eri never been around another kid her age? How long did Chisaki have her locked in that house? Sayuri gave her a reassuring smile. "It's okay. Come on; Yawarakai-san said we can go upstairs until he comes back. You can color with Michiko-chan and eat breakfast, okay? It will be fun."
