This is…seriously pathetic. He narrowed his eyes at the burning heap of flesh and fabric. The flames crackled, sending up bright blue embers when he nudged at a leg with the toe of his boot. Turning away, shaking his head with disappointment, he started off down the alley.

Dabi opened the wallet he managed to snag before he set the guy ablaze and started counting how much money there was. It was a decent amount, but not enough to compensate his annoyance. At least it would be enough to help take care of the kid, though.

He shoved the wallet into his pocket and ran his hands through his hair to get rid of any lingering ashes. Opening his jacket, he peered down into the inner pocket at his somewhat distressed passengers. Shirayuki and Kamishiro peeked up at him from inside the pocket and he reached in to pet their heads with a fingertip.

When he went to retrieve Sayuri's rats from her apartment, he quickly realized he was being followed. He hoped that whoever it was would present more of a challenge, but this guy was just as weak and boring as the others that he burned. Just more fuel for his flames.

The kid's dad must be pretty weak, he thought with a smirk. Doesn't even have the balls to come after me himself, but he'll send these losers to try to kill me. He was almost tempted to go back to that house and finish what he started, but then he thought of Sayuri and the kid.

Later, he promised himself. When they had somewhere safe to keep the little girl, he would try to find her dad and finish him off. For now, he had to prioritize getting back to that café. From there, Dabi would need to find another place for them to hide.

He had left them at a table near the counter, but when he stepped into the coffee shop he found the table empty. Dabi looked to the counter and saw a girl with dark bluish-green hair leaning against the display case and texting someone. "Hey. I left a girl and her kid here. Did you see where they went?"

She tensed. "You'll have to go through me-! Oh! It's just you." Her narrow amber eyes lifted as she spoke, scowling at first until her gaze roamed over him and she recognized him from when he walked in earlier.

Dabi raised an eyebrow. The clerk almost seemed disappointed. "What's the matter? You really wanted to fight the kid's dad?" he taunted.

The girl tapped a fingertip against the counter and glared up at him. "You know, it's not every day I get the chance to go all out and shake things up. I wouldn't have minded having the opportunity to beat up an abusive asshole. Anyone that hurts kids is the lowest kind of person. Barely even human." The two stood there for a long moment, eyes locked, before she grinned. "But no worries. She vouched for you so I know you must be a pretty good guy; even if you smell like a fire pit."

He was directed through a door to the stairs leading to the living area above the café, but not before the teal-haired girl warned him not to get ashes on the floor. Dabi ignored her and emerged through the door at the top of the stairs to find something that made him frown.

Sayuri was sitting at the table in the living room area with Eri and a little girl with light blue hair. The stranger was excitedly showing Eri a kitten and it was clear that this was probably the first kitten the pale-haired little girl had ever seen up close. This wholesome scene made him pause, feeling out of place.

"This is Sashimi-chan," the stranger said, putting the kitten in Eri's lap. "I helped save her from some boys."

"Sashimi-chan…?"

"That's a…weird name for a cat." Dabi smirked when he saw Sayuri turn toward him. "What'd I miss?" He strode across the room to sit beside her and immediately saw her nose twitch as she noticed the smell of smoke that was clinging to him.

"This is one of my old students," Sayuri explained, introducing the little girl as Michiko. "Her mom said we could wait for you here. Where did you go?" Her soft lilac eyes skimmed over him, searching for new injuries.

"I'm fine," he muttered. "I had someone tailing me for a while, but I had to get something. Figured you wouldn't want me to leave them." He opened his jacket enough to let her see the rats that were now curled up in his pocket asleep. "Anyway, what're we gonna do now? Can't go back to your place; her old man's got people watching it."

"I figured." She leaned against his side, deciding not to let the smoky aroma bother her. "I don't know what to do. We can't go back there. I don't really know anyone trustworthy besides Fuyumi and Natsuo."

"I'm not letting you go there," Dabi stated.

"I don't like it, either, but we don't have a lot of options. I want to keep her safe." Sayuri's voice softened and she looked toward Eri with a frown.

He followed her gaze and saw the little girl staring down at the kitten in amazement. She seemed to have cheered up a bit and almost resembled a normal kid in this moment; sitting with another little girl and talking about dumb things like kittens and favorite colors or foods. She looks a lot like Sayuri did, he thought with a grimace. Damn it.

It was true. They had very few options. Not to mention the fact that Dabi knew that Sayuri and Eri would be safe at the Todoroki house. Not because Endeavor would protect them, but because the intimidation would probably be enough to deter someone from breaking in. He could admit it was a good idea, but he could also admit that he was selfish.

"You're not taking her there." He saw her open her mouth to argue and threaded a hand into her snow-colored hair to force her closer. His lips covered hers in a harsh kiss that smothered her argument. When he pulled away, he saw the flushed color of her cheeks. "Stop thinking about it. I can do a better job protecting you both anyway. That old man still scares you, right?"

"Coffee's ready."

Dabi's head turned to the left sharply and he noticed a woman with long, wavy blue hair walking toward them from the kitchen with a tray. How'd I miss someone like that? I didn't even notice her over there.

The woman smiled and sat next to the blue-haired little girl. She set out cups of steaming black coffee for herself, Dabi, and Sayuri as well as mugs of hot chocolate for the children. "So you're Naosu-sensei's boyfriend. It's nice to meet you."

He stared across the table at the woman before smirking. "Yeah. Same." He inched closer to the pale-haired woman, feeling a bit more possessive suddenly. What's with this lady? Didn't think Sayuri was friends with any of those kids' parents.

"So I couldn't help overhearing that you need a place to stay," she started, her smile growing. Beside her, her daughter's eyes widened and she beamed. "I was thinking maybe you could stay here tonight. The girls could have a slumber party out here and you two could use my room. I'll stay in Michiko's room. What do you think, Naosu-sensei?"

Dabi listened half-heartedly as Sayuri talked with the stranger, but he was trying to come up with a plan. Being followed meant they would be unable to stay in one place for very long. If he could just go back to that house and burn Eri's dad to cinders, he could fix everything. He was pulled out of his fiery daydream by a gentle tugging at his sleeve.

Looking over, he found that Eri had moved closer to sit next to him. She was trembling a little and holding a piece of paper out to him. "What's that?"

"I…I made this for you…"

He took the paper and lowered his gaze to the drawing. It was obviously meant to be a picture of him, drawn in purple and black crayon, with blue fire around him. In messy handwriting, she had put "thank you" at the top of the paper. Dabi tilted his head, studying it for a minute before he rested a hand on the top of Eri's head and ruffled her hair. "Not bad."

Shift P.O.V

Sayuri watched the interaction between Eri and Michiko with a heavy sort of feeling in her heart. I wish we had more time, she thought. I wish this could just be normal for us. I wish you could have a friend and do normal kid stuff. But we're not safe here. We're not safe anywhere.

She agreed to stay with Misora for one night, just so Eri could get a taste of what normal life was like. It was becoming clearer than ever just how isolated Chisaki had kept her. Michiko was probably the first friend Eri ever made. This kitten was definitely the first cat Eri had ever seen in real life.

Watching her present Dabi with the crayon drawing, Sayuri had to smile. She remembered when she was younger; going over to the Todoroki house to spend time with Fuyumi and her brothers. Before everything got so terrifying. Before she knew how wretched their father was. Before Touya disappeared.

Misora went downstairs to the coffee shop again to keep working; leaving Sayuri and Dabi to watch her daughter. The pale-haired woman sat against the couch as the little girls talked among themselves, frowning as she tried to think of a plan. She had never felt so isolated before.

Unable to go to her family for help. Her only friends were Fuyumi, Natsuo, and apparently Misora. I can't make Dabi take care of everything. I need to do something. But what can I do? I can't even protect Eri with my quirk. All I can do is heal her if something happens to her.

"This coffee's weird," Dabi muttered next to her.

"It's really good," she protested. "I don't know how Yawarakai-san makes black coffee taste like this. It's not even bitter."

"Maybe that's her quirk," he teased. He looked over when he failed to get a laugh from her and raised an eyebrow. "What're you thinking about?"

"I'm trying to come up with a plan." Sayuri attempted to keep her voice down to hide her worry from the children. "I mean, should we try to leave the country? He knew a lot about me. He knew where I lived, where I worked. What if he saw me with Fuyumi and now he's going to go after her? What if he saw us come in here and now he's going to-?"

"If he tries taking you again, I'll just burn him to a pile of ash."

She slouched and fidgeted with a stray lock of hair. "You can't just burn away all of your problems, Dabi."

"What're you talking about? It's all I can do, right? I can burn stuff."

She shook her head and nudged her shoulder against his. "You saved us. You risked your life to rescue me and you made sure to get her out of there, too. That was pretty cool." Her eyes widened when he ruffled her hair. "What're you-?"

"Some bruised up little crybaby told me that once," he started, not looking at her. "You know why? It was over something stupid. All I did was hug her because it was all I could do and she thought I was cool because of it."

Sayuri snickered and leaned against his side. "Yeah, well…it still helped."

Dabi's arm slid around her again, his skin warm even through his sleeve, and he was silent for a moment. "I remember one time," he started with hesitation. "This guy called Calorie Bomb came to the house and it really pissed off my old man." He tipped his head back to rest against the couch, watching her from the corner of his eye. "Wonder if he had any friends."

Her eyes widened and she half-smiled. "Y-yeah. Probably."

He sighed, sounding both irritated and exhausted. Blood oozing through the bandage beneath his eye. "Here." Dabi dug his phone from his pocket and dropped it onto Sayuri's lap. His head fell against her shoulder and his breathing slowed. "I'm gonna nap. Wake me up if something happens. Don't try to…do it yourself."

How much sleep has he been getting? Sayuri picked up his phone and felt him lean against her heavily, letting her know he had dozed off. The warmth of his cheek could be felt even through her hoodie. She only saw a few numbers in his contact list and the only female name was hers. Glancing over at her scarred, sleeping boyfriend, she knew she would have to fight the instinct to call Fuyumi.

Aunt Sumire. I have to call her and maybe she can give me some of Umetarou's contacts? Is that okay, though? I know we need help, but what if they say no? But they're heroes. Heroes are supposed to help people. She thought of Endeavor for an instant and shook her head. Real heroes help people.

"Is he okay?" Eri's new friend was looking at Dabi curiously.

Sayuri looked at the red spot growing on the bandage under his eye and winced. "He's going to be fine, Michiko-chan. Do you know if your mom has a first aid kit?" When the little girl ran down to the café to get it, Sayuri saw the worried look on Eri's face as she moved closer. "He's alright. He just…wore himself out. That's what happens when you push yourself too much with your quirk."

"His quirk…? The fire?" Eri reached toward him and recoiled when she touched his hand. "H-hot."

"Hot?" Sayuri touched his patchwork cheek and flinched at the intensity of his body temperature. Is he sick? Or is this from his quirk?! What did he do?