Shield

Summary : Dabi wanted to burn down her entire home. He wanted to take everything away from her so she wouldn't have any choice but to follow him, but he couldn't do that. His flames wouldn't even lick at his skin at the thought of being what caused her smile to falter. He could barely stomach the idea of being behind such tears. Dabi wanted to see Yua cry, just not in that way. He wanted tears to be in her eyes as she cried out his name over and over again, as she withered and shivered beneath him. It was how he knew he was in deep for her, deep in whatever sticky feelings made people want only good for someone else.

Chapter Two

He was unsettling to look at. The strong smell of cinnamon wafting from a candle Yua had forgotten to blow out did little to mask the stench rolling off the scarred man, or the hint of tanning leather she was picking up on. His skin looked to have been quilted together with medical staples, and Yua's brain couldn't determine if the odd purple patches were self-inflicted or due to his quirk.

As her mind adapted to the shock her ability to assess the situation gradually returned. Murky green hues revised what was in front of her. She didn't recognize him, and she knew someone with his appearance wouldn't be easy to forget. Still as she wracked her brain she couldn't come up with any figures she might have seen on the streets, at work, or the few she knew about that lived in the building. Yua stayed alert, never letting her guard drop, as she followed the flickering movement of blue flames. Had she been imagining things or had he briefly flared them bigger and brighter? Yua dared not move, not when Kayda teetered between the two of them. She wasn't going to risk upsetting the man and having him firing off such a dangerous looking quirk.

Taking a shallow breath in, Yua smiled warmly at her little sister when the child began waving her duck at the two of them. Muscles tensed when the tall figure shifted a bit, his hand moving closer to the window. Had he been looking to escape through there? If he had he wasn't going to be getting far. Yua lived four stores up from the ground, and the window had a lousy tendency to freeze shut during the winter. She wasn't sure what all his quirk entailed but she doubted that even he could survive a fall from that height. It had her curious none-the-less. Wondering if the stranger, unlike herself, could make such a jump and roll away unscathed.

"Coco!" Kayda chided bubbly as she began fumbling her way back to her big sister. Small hands reaching for the sippy cup Yua had forgotten she was holding. Yua's attention briefly shuffled to her sister so she could gauge the four year old's condition. Kayda was fine, but doing this helped calm Yua's fraying nerves, and seeing the sparkle in the toddler's blue hues only made the fact that much more obvious. Though as for the stranger, Yua hadn't missed the way his own gaze snapped in annoyance, irritation, and slight apprehension. He was hard to read, and the moment she had seen those emotions had been purely by chance.

Yua didn't know what he wanted or why he was here. She did have a hunch about one thing though.

"I would much rather you take the front door on your way out instead of breaking the window." She couldn't claim she knew that he was looking to leave, but her hunch was purely based on what she had witnessed so far. That and Yua would much rather he just walk out with whatever he had taken. He could finish raiding their home if it meant he wouldn't hurt them, fire off his quirk, or break the window. Most of the more pricey valuables were hidden away anyways. She doubted he'd start pulling floorboards up and checking the ceiling tiles in the bathroom.

With her gaze fixed solely on his, Yua leaned down to hand the sippy cup to Kayda before ushering the small child behind her. Turquoise, stunning as much as she couldn't help but admit in the moment, lightened as a look of intrigue settled across their depths. A look that had Yua shivering under the intensity and fighting not to rub her arms as pale hairs stood.

Flames that still hadn't been extinguished suddenly fizzled out as his back straightened and his lips curled. The urge to step back was fought away as another wave of unease induced goosebumps littered her skin. Yua didn't know how to describe the upward turn his lips had taken. It wasn't as simple as a smile or a taunting grin.

"Why?" He pipped dispassionately, with a voice evident of someone who spent a great deal of time surrounded by smoke. It wasn't unpleasant but the slight rasp made Yua wonder if he didn't talk often.

In her silence, one carrying on longer than what would have been deemed socially acceptable, he scrutinized her from the disarray of short blond locks on her head to the nylon tights covering her toes. The red tinting to her face and bare arms didn't go unnoticed, and had him pondering in the silence if she hadn't worn a heavy enough jacket. Whatever she had worn on top of her current outfit definitely hadn't been suitable for the weather they were currently having.

Yua was ignorant to the man's personal thoughts, but she did not miss the way his attention frequently trailed between her sister and her. Yua didn't like the cold analytical look that was growing in his icy orbs. Despite this it was beginning to become abundantly clear to her that he wasn't of the same scummy stock that sulked the streets in this part of the city. There was a different sort of aura encircling him than there had been to someone like the purple tinted sleaze who had gotten handsy at the café.

'Dangerous.' It was more than a bad boy sort of vibe. That was the best Yua could do to explain the trepidation as her amygdala pinged to dispatched the order to raise the red flags and ring the bells in her head. Adrenaline flooded her system, sending her heart into an eradicating rhythm. Swallowing thickly, Yua shivered before forcing her own vocal cords into working.

"I can't afford to replace the window." While her words did waver and shamefully break Yua managed to hold her head high and keep her gaze from frolicing. The small hands clinging to her even helped in grounding Yua, and prompted her sisterly protective instincts into flaring.

Yua would do anything and sacrifice everything just to ensure the safety of little Kayda. She'd be damned if she wasn't going to see her sister, whom she loved wholeheartedly, not experience life and all it has to offer. The foul action of attempting to tamper with Kayda's future was a hazardously sure way of ensuring endangerment on one's own life. Yua was far from being considered powerful and strong. Even her quirk was a bit of a joke. It wasn't anything remarkable or flashy. The blasted ability couldn't even be extended outward to protect others, but the shocking realization of exactly what it was and what it could prevent did often leave others open for a few seconds. If it came down to it and he threw those flames Yua would make the most of those sacred seconds, but not on attack but fleeing.

Yua would use her own body as a shield for the small child who had caused countless tears to pour from her. A toddler who had a tendency to pull hair in her sleep, and was worryingly obsessed with ducks, was someone Yua would willingly bleed for. She'd become the hero, the villain, and even the vigilante. It didn't matter to her what it would take, because Yua would do anything just to see her sister one day succeed in grasping her own dreams and making them into a reality.

It's a strange feeling. One that had her head spinning in rage, fear, and greed when their parents passed. Leaving Yua alone in this unfair world with Kayda to raise. She had wanted to resent her parents for dying and leaving the toddler in her care. She wanted to hate them for shattering her dreams and desires, but Yua had been the one who willingly tossed them into the toilet and left them to rot in the gutters. She was the one who took an oath in court without blinking just so she could become the legal guardian of Kayda. She had been the one who decided dropping out of college was okay if it meant she could pick up multiple jobs.

Hands clenched at her sides as Yua waited to see what would happen next. Her mind paid little attention to the giggling child who was asking to be picked up. She was too engrossed in the hope that by saying the right things, doing the right stuff, that the squatter wouldn't attack and would simply and peacefully leave. The fear that had found her, and burned itself into her every nerve, spoke in calloused whispers. Cackling to Yua that she wasn't enough. That if he did decide to attack there would be nothing she could do to protect Kayda. Weak. Weak. Weak. It taunted, till Yua was clenching her jaw so tightly it was beginning to give her a headache. All so the tears stinging in her eyes wouldn't fall.

'Shut up.'

She wasn't going to cry. She wasn't going to let a single tear slip and give away how weak she was feeling. How in his clutches, at his mercy, the two of them truly were. Yua had faced off against others of this world, and in the end of each of those trials she had ended up still on her own two feet. She was still standing and she wasn't about to fall down now. Not when her entire life was clinging and whining below her.

When his body stirred and he began to move though Yua froze. Why wasn't she moving? Shouldn't she be preparing to defend them? Yua wasn't sure what to expect, but she never broke from his unwavering gaze. Even as he walked right past her, moving swiftly and effortlessly with his hands deep in his pockets. Subconsciously, she wondered if her chin even reached his shoulders. Consciously, she automatically turned with him and watched as he turned his back to her. Then, just like that he did as she had requested and left through the front door.

Even after he had pulled the door shut behind him Yua stayed rooted to her spot. She wasn't aware until then how numb she had become until everything was flooding back. The tension and anxiety of the situation hit her with such force that it felt like the contents in her belly were going to be expelled at any moment.

Sleep didn't come easily that night, or the nights to follow, even after she had fixed the new lock into place. When the sun finally rose Yua focused not on what had taken place but what was to come. What had happened a quarter to five in the morning on January 23rd had just been an unexpected encounter. There was nothing more to it than that.

In a span of four days Yua had managed to hunt down a potential job opening. One that if she played her cards right would work great with her night shifts at the club and the time she needed to spend with her sister. She had seen the 'Help Wanted' sign in the store's window after dropping Kayda off with Makoto Choi.

Yua had her worries about the job, such as pay and getting only day shifts, but she knew that the discounts she'd be entitled to would in the long run be worth it. Especially with another growth spurt just around the corner for Kayda. The small child had become a human garbage disposal within the last few weeks and as a result their food bill had steadily been getting larger. By working at a grocery store, with a deli, they'd be able to save some yen. Maybe, if they were lucky it would help in getting the overdue bills paid.

"Excuse me." She called, a hand reaching to tap on the shoulder of a middle aged man. He was adored in a wrinkled shirt and a name tag that read Gintoki Mori, with the word MANAGER in bold above. "Excuse me. Do you know who I can speak with about applying for a job? I saw the sign in the window."

"Hmm?" He sounded as he took Yua in with a friendly smile. "What's your name?"

"Yua Hibiki." She smiled back, and with a nod of his head Yua was following after him. Questions were being fired and in retaliation answers speedily being given as they weaved between isles. Only stopping before a door in the employee restricted area at the back of the store.

"Do you want to work as a cashier? A shelf stocker? Or, are you wanting to go behind the deli desk?" Mori inquired as he ushered her into the small room, his office Yua suspected. The room was a cluttered mess, and Yua wondered how much time he actually spent back here. Taking a seat Yua shrugged off her new winter coat. It was much too warm to keep it on any longer.

"I'll do any of it." Each attempt to make eye contact failed, as his dark hues wouldn't linger long with her piercing gaze. His attention kept traveling about the room, only occasionally returning when he glanced back at her. "I'm a hard worker, responsible, but I am worried about shifts. Pardon me being brazen, but I have another job at night and I'd like it if this one doesn't cut into it."

"No worries." He waved a hand in dismissal. "Have you worked as a cashier before?"

"Yes."

"And, what do you feel about working at the deli?" Mori ran his hand through his thin locks, leaving a path where his fingers had visibly scraped across his scalp. "Young, Hibiki?"

"I haven't cut or packaged meat or cheese before, but I have worked in food trucks and at cafes. So, I have dealt with putting food orders together." She had always been where the customers could see her. Where she could mingle with the people. "I am more than willing to learn for the position."

"Good. Good. That's great." He uttered. His hand grazing the top of hers when he laid paperwork down before her. Yua's face scrunched when a strange tingle had her nose itching. It distracted her from the fact that he hadn't apologized for accidentally touching her. "I asked because if you are going to work here then I will need to see how well you can handle the meats."

Looking up from the white sheets Yua watched wearily as he circled and took a seat on his desk, inches from where she was seated. His lap directed towards her, and Yua was sure that if he swung a leg he'd be able to kick one of her elbows. Glancing back down towards the paperwork Yua scooted a few feet away. She wasn't oblivious to his movements as he ran his hand through his hair again before scooting closer.

"There's ham, turkey, and hotdogs. Things such as that, but nothing strenuous." A damp hand clamped down without warning on her arm, fully making contact as fingers dug into fatty flesh. Yua jerked, but he didn't let go, and her eyes transferred from the hand on her upper arm to him with a questionable look.

"Sometimes we sell corn dogs, and every Wednesday we make a fabulous three bean salad." She had an eerie feeling beginning to grow in the pit of her belly, but it wasn't till his hand started to inch its way up her arm did goosebumps make her skin bumpy. Yua would have broken the physical contact but momentarily did she stiffen when her eyes caught onto the flexing of something in his pants.

"You are a pretty girl, and the splash of freckles on your cheeks are going to glow when we're done." The stillness of the air seemed to suck all else out of Yua as realization struck. Was he suggesting… that she… Fuck, damnit, why her?! He had been laying double-entendres into his speech, and it wasn't till now that the dots connected. He had been a bit charming, a bit too friendly, and had just the right amount of twinkle in his eyes to not cause eerie feelings to flip onto their bellies and become perverted creep blaring alarms.

"Don't touch me, you sleazy freak." Lips peeled back in a snarl, and Yua's murky green hues danced with caution, as she hissed. It took little effort to retch herself free as she shot up and barreled over her chair to put distance between her and her assailant. Was the tingling in her nose, the itch, due to his quirk? Had he been trying to manipulate her? There was no other explanation to why he had wanted so much physical contact that she could think of.

Lurching as her back connected with the wall, Yua glared as the clean and pristine Gintoki Mori took an unsure step towards her. His eyes twitching uncomfortably. He had to be aware by now that his quirk wasn't affecting her, and Yua could only pray that he wouldn't realize just what her quirk was. The longer he remained semi-clueless the safer she would be.

"Please calm down. I wasn't trying to suggest anything inappropriate or illegal." We are both conceding adults was what else Yua could hear him adding. The way he looked at her as he stepped closer, till his fingers were stroking her skin, had every warning in her head going off.

"I meant nothing offensive. You understand that right?" Was he trying to apologize? Make it seem like it had been all a big joke?

Teeth ground, how had she not seen through his mask? Yua was livid at herself. Sure, he was clean shaved, of average height, moderate build, and dressed in a casual shirt and fancy tanned dress pants but she should have known… right? Where had the early warning signs been? Why couldn't she think of any until after he had directed her into his office? Why was he the sort of person who could just melt into the background, be an extra that could easily be forgotten about?

Understand her ass. There was nothing to understand about this situation, and she was going to show him just how understanding she was going to be. Her head flew forward without warning and collided with his face. Pain pulsated through both their noggins, but only the sleazy manager had split skin. His blood drained from his nose as he shrieked and stumbled backwards.

"Is that your quirk?! Are you taking advantage of women with it! You bloody sleaze!" Ignoring the burn Yua stormed after him. She was ready to send another blow and the panic flashing across Mori's face had him scurrying to avoid a hazardously thrown punch.

His hands scrambled to latch onto anything. He threw object after object, a few clipping Yua but none stopping her. Her right arm flew out, aiming to land a right hook, but it missed and instead a thick clipboard bounced off her face. White hot pain shot through her nose but Yua only groaned as black dots fogged her vision. Something as trivial as a clipboard wasn't going to stop her. If anything it had been like poking a bear. It had only resulted in making her angrier.

Mori's shouting never stopped, and Yua hadn't gotten past seeing and hearing red to notice that he was calling for help. Not when a container of pens and pencils hit her face and she stumbled backwards, or when his office door was thrown open and hands trapped her. She struggled, feet flying and head snapping in different directions, but it was futile. These men were both bigger and stronger than her.

What felt like minutes slipped before her mind returned enough for Yua to realize that struggling was useless. Her body slackened in the hands holding her back, but her head jerked as she spit a mouth full of blood out. Yua could feel the liquid dripping from her nose, over swollen lips, and down her chin. She must have been a sight by the look she was still receiving from the creep breathing heavily behind his desk. A hand cradling his newly broken nose.

"All it will take is a few tears, me confessing that you assaulted me, and the misuse of your quirk to have you jailed!" Yua hissed, out of breath. Her adrenaline rush faded and in its place the tingling heat of pain slowly erupted across her face.

Finding his feet, Mori set a look onto Yua that had red flags flying high once more. Her slack body went rigid. Murky green hues darted to the two on either side of her. Were they under the influence of his quirk, or did they know what sort of shady things their boss liked to take practice in?

It hadn't worried her before but now Yua was beginning to wonder what would happen to her. She had acted reckless again, like she had back in the café with the purple tinted man. She lived in the shady part of town where heroes and the police patrolled scarcely. Though, Yua doubted - she severely hoped anyways - that her actions wouldn't result in her getting brutally murdered. She had no clue who this man was, or if he was involved in any shady business.

'Think rationally. This is just a grocery store with a cheap security system….' Cameras…. There had been cameras! Did they work? Or, were they just here for decoration? Yua hoped they weren't broken, because if these people did anything to her then the last palace she could be traced back to would be here. Her gaze flickered back to the manager. It was the only saving grace she could think of that might stop them from doing anything unsavory to her.

"What do you want? Money?" In other words he was asking what it would take for her to keep her tongue from wagging. Yua's heart fluttered in relief. She wasn't sure what else he was willing to do to keep her silent, but she was gleeful that it wasn't anything too dark and sinister. With a hesitant wave of his hand the men holding tight to Yua let go.

"I want weekday shifts. Done by five in the evening."

The bribe to her silence wasn't what Mori had been expecting to hear, but none-the-less he begrudgingly agreed. His lip curling further, but Yua wasn't done yet. This might not have been the smartest play but letting an opportunity like this go would be stupid. Temptation to get the best out of the situation was too much to let slide.

"I'm not done yet. I want full paid days when I get sick or when I have to leave for emergencies." Yua could see the pent up rage swelling in his livid dark orbs with each word she uttered, each demand she desired. "And, I want free fresh deli meat and cheese of my choice once a week. I want prime cuts, none of that skanky shit."

"Fine." In his hand was the application she had been filling out. Mori wasn't gentle in the least bit when he thrusted it into her hands. "Just finish filling this out."

Silenced ensued as she worked on filling the paperwork out. It wasn't till she saw her hourly pay did she add, "I want fifteen an hour."

"That is too much! You are asking for too much! No employee gets paid that well!"

Yua didn't respond. She simply raised an eyebrow at him as she crossed her leg and stared him down. This wasn't an option. If he wanted her silence then this was the cost.

"Ten." Was he really trying to bargain with her?

"Twelve, and no lower."

"I do twelve and you won't speak a word?" He brazenly spoke, voice without a flinch.

"Twelve, and no lower." Yua repeated. She wasn't willing to promise anything. As long as she got what she wanted then there would be no words spilt about what had happened. Did he deserve to rot somewhere in a ditch? Yes, but for now there was more benefits for Yua in a deal like this.

Dabi followed, watched, and observed the days preceding his intrusion. It wasn't hard to keep tabs on her when he was crashing seven doors down. He had expected her to call the authorities and report him, but she hadn't done that. There had been no sirens wailing or any false heroes crashing in through windows. This, though, was not a valid excuse for why he hadn't just abandoned the building to search out somewhere else to crash.

It had been odd, and unusual, but maybe expected. The woman was living in a rather rundown apartment and in the worst part of the city. There was a high chance she had a criminal record and just wished to avoid the authorities. Dabi had a gut feeling though that whatever crimes she may or may not have committed were nothing to be worried about. He had met scum and trash and she didn't necessarily fit into that category.

His mind replayed when they had met. Dabi couldn't decide if it was her reaction to him, the presence of the kid, or the over protectiveness glowing in green eyes that had kept him from burning her.

She wasn't a threat to him. That's what he had repeated to himself as he trailed after her down streets, staying hidden in the shadows. She was just interesting enough to pass the time watching scurry about.

She worked at night, but appeared to be searching for a job to fulfill the hours of the days. It had been a bit of a surprise, but had explained the form fitting outfit he had first seen her in, when he learned she was a club waitress at a fancy middle class strip joint. A smile decorating her freckled face as she flowed with ease through thick crowds. It was nauseating how fake her emotions were, and irritating how drastically they compared to how she acted outside of her working environment. She reminded Dabi of a doll.

Then, there was the kid. Who she dropped off with an old lady before heading to the club for her long night shifts. Kayda was what she had called the dark haired child wasn't it? Children usually just stared and pointed at him, yet she had just shoved her toy duck into his face. It had caught him off guard and while his flames had flared he hadn't aimed to burn her. They were meant to scare her off. Deep sea blue had widened before she had all but jumped at him with a large smile shouting about hot chocolate.

It had been a very confusing experience. One Dabi did not want to repeat with anyone ever.

Yua Hibiki, as he had heard her being called, was boring. Bottom line. Mundane and so very obviously not part of this black and white, hero and villain, world most were trapped in. The only interesting notion Dabi had of her was the rumor he'd been hearing. One that had him continuing to follow. Dabi wanted to see if there was any truth to them himself. It was why he was tagging so closely tonight, his feet leaving the shadows.

Could she really withstand his flames? Or, would she melt beneath them?

When she turned down an alleyway he stepped closer and reached forward with a hand encased in blue flames. The staples holding his skin together stretched and tore around the edges as he grinned, baring his teeth to the missing moonlight.

His hand never touched her, neither did his flames, not when his attention was redirected by the peppered bruises sprinkled in thick blotches over her pale face. Markings she had attempted to hide with make-up. There was no hiding the deep, more discolored ones. Just as there was little she could do but wait for the split above her eyebrow and the tear in her bottom lip to heal. Slender fingers with broken skin tugged at her collar, revealing another dark bruise lining her neck.

His flames died as he sourly watched her walk on, gaining ground further and further from him. Dabi's interest in her quirk vanished as he wondered when she had gotten into such a bender, and why he hadn't noticed till now.

Who had mishandled the doll?

Yua watched from her position sprawled out on the ground as Kayda squeezed her duck and giggled to herself. Her head teetering back and forth to the sweet vibrations of the music being expelled from her phone. The lyrics tumbled out of her softly in a hybrid between actual words and nonsense humming.

Three weeks had passed, and the last day of February had snuck up on Yua too fast. At least life was finally feeling like it was settling back down after the chaotic sequence of sparkling, dull, ostentatiously, and revolting events. No one had broken into her home, the lock had stayed safely attached to the door, all bills were paid, and the sleazy manager at the grocery store had resorted to glaring at her from a distance. Yua had even been moved back to being a waitress at the club. The wounds she had gotten after her brawl had earned her a demotion to working in the back, away from the customers and curious eyes. The bruising had faded, significantly, and what was left could easily be covered with a bit of make-up. Her split lip had healed and the cut above her right eyebrow hadn't even left a silvery scar.

"How bad did we want it and good did it feel driving fast until we crashed into each other's arms?" Yua rolled over and bopped the three year old's nose. Kayda babbled before attempting to repeat what her big sister had off-key sang. Pinching the child's cheeks Yua sat up. Her hands picking up the coloring sheet her sister had been drawing on. She wasn't sure what the image was supposed to be but none-the-less Yua praised Kayda.

It had been a while since Yua hadn't felt the pressure of adulting weighing down on her shoulders. She felt free and would have been more than happy to sit on the ground with Kayda, playing with the child, for the rest of Sunday. The apartment was messy, clothes needed to be washed and dishes cleaned, but Yua didn't care about any of it. This was her first weekend, her only weekend this month, that she didn't have to go to the club. The only job she had to worry about was the part-time gig she had picked up as a motel housekeeper.

The job was a bit farther away than she liked, but with her pay being a fixed amount and not being restricted by how many hours she clocked in made the lengthy bus ride worth it. As long as she logged twenty hours every two weeks it wouldn't matter if she didn't work every day.

This bit of freedom was refreshing, and left Yua feeling like she had breathing room. That she had choices in her daily life that she could make without them weighing too heavily on the responsibility of being the only stable adult in their lives.

The bleeping of her alarm drowned out the soft lyrics and had Yua scrunching her face. Was it eleven already? How time had passed.

"Who wants to go to work with sissy? Want to play with the soaps as I change sheets and look for money left behind?"

Yua had fallen into a comfortable routine by March 4th. Choi was back to sitting Kayda at the apartment and Yua had just been tipped handsomely by a woman at the club. But, she should have known things weren't going to continue going smoothly. They never did, not with the life she lived and with the shifts she took.

Yet, Yua hadn't even been able to mentally prepare or even begin to understand that in a few seconds flat she had been assaulted. One moment she had been walking, minding her own business, and the next blue had engulfed her. Bright blinding light with an entangled swirl of white. She hadn't figured out till it dimmed and died out what had happened. That the heat that had kissed her skin and tickled her ears had been flames. A blast of them that had consumed her vision with such brightness that Yua flinched and shrunk as waves of pain coursed through her eyes.

Or, that a majority of her outerwear and any belongings she was clinging to had just vanished. In a daze her murky green hues tilted down to where the envelope of over thirty-one thousand yen had been. White rage coursed through her as Yua's head snapped up and towards whoever was in the dark alley. The ponytail that had held her hair was gone, leaving short threads to stick out in odd directions.

There was a stillness on both sides after Yua had shrieked in surprise. Neither of the warm bodies budged, eyes staying glued to Yua in her birthday suit. If her shock turned anger was visible the air would have been tainted scarlet. Yet, her instincts held her back from acting. Her mind crudely reminded her of how bare she had been made, and that while she knew a bit of self defense there was no guarantee she could fight off two men if things went south. The best option would be to just keep on going and pretend she hadn't seen anything. Yua would have done just that if her attention hadn't been scooped up by a familiar scarred faced bastard.

Why the hell was it him standing down the alley? Why was she crossing paths with him again? This was not how she had thought the new day would begin to play out.

"The hell was that for!" She seethed, her murky gaze burning their own holes into the two that had been scuffling. Logical reasoning was tossed out the window as she stormed right into the alleyway, not fazed a bit by the eyes scouting her figure. Luckily the lighting was dim and little could actually be seen.

A string of curses unraveled from her tongue as Yua came to a tense halt. He moved like a cat, swift and light on his feet, and it had her stumbling over her own to create distance between the two of them. She wanted justice for her burned money and missing clothes but didn't want either of them to be too close to her personal bubble. The annoyance he held towards the lowlife thug was wisped away by a now scandalously clad blond. His mind reeling, but his eyes staying latched onto her wide orbs.

What was she doing here?
Why hadn't his flames chard her flesh?
Were the rumors he had heard about her quirk true?

Yua took another step back. Her pace was too slow and jerky, and with each step she took he covered twice the distance. The look he was sporting was too predatory and had her shivering and the hairs raising across her rapidly cooling body. Yua felt like the mouse in a game of cat and mouse. The meal, the toy, that wasn't allowed to run away. Yua practically wilted under his stare.

"You shouldn't turn your back just because a pretty shape stepped in." Despite the scaled man's outer appearance his voice was smooth, with a baritone that reverberated through Yua's bones. There was no comfort in his words but it was a distraction Yua greedily took advantage of. She could see a tantrum forming as his breaths turned from quiet and regular to a panting gasping mess of harsh shouting and vulgar words. Insults were being thrown not just at the homeless squatter but at Yua as well, and every fiber in her screamed to retaliate against his claims.

"Don't drag me into this! I was just passing by!" And, retaliate she did as the scaled beast lurched forward and swung his massive claws. Without thought her legs moved and she was bouncing backwards on the balls of her feet, a new wave of adrenaline coursing through her thin veins. Electric blue hues held her gaze a second longer. Allowing Yua to see a cold burning rage in his eyes, an icy that scared Yua. She had seen the look in his eyes briefly before, but not to this magnitude. There had been annoyance and agitation when he had seen her, but for the thug it was beyond that. Like the scaled man was below him, a bug to be stepped on.

Yua watched as hands lit blue in response, but the scaled man still struck him dead in the side. Sending the squatter flying into trash cans and soggy boxes. He didn't move and for a moment Yua thought he had been knocked unconscious, that is until he groaned and muttered something under his breath. What followed left her feet rooted in terror and awe. An explosion of flames flared outward in such ferocious variety that the thug had no time to react. One second he was living and the next nothing but a corpse chard and disintegrating on the ground.

If it hadn't been for her quirk then that could have easily been her state as well.

Yua had seen and been through a lot of unsavory things in her life, and few could make her belly twist in anxiety and terror like it was right now. She had just witnessed someone getting killed… murdered. In the time she had lived in the slums of Yokohama City she had never witnessed such grueling actions. Never had she stumbled upon a body after it had been dumped, or smelt burning flesh.

Avoiding shady individuals, groups of strangers, and drunks was one thing but becoming a witness to a murder was not something Yua needed to get involved in. It could bring unnecessary attention back to her living conditions and her ability to raise her sister if she were to ever be traced back to this alleyway.

'Self defense.' Yua muttered internally. Her face was frozen, eyes open, and mouth slack. She wanted nothing more than to propel backwards and sprint all the way home, but the wounds decorating pale skin and purple scarring kept Yua rooted to the spot. He had to defend himself. If he hadn't then the guy covered in scales would have killed him. Swallowing thickly helped little to convince her, especially as her mind recalled the look he had zeroed onto her. The one that had left her feeling like she was about to be dragged into a game of cat and mouse.

She hesitated, torn between leaving him bleeding in the alley and offering aid. He was a stranger, likely a very dangerous one, but he hadn't tried to murder her or Kayda when he had the chance back in January. He had peacefully left, and until now had stayed out of their life. Having such a powerful quirk worried Yua, and him knowing where she lived terrified her. If he held it against her for not helping he could try to hurt them. While his flames couldn't burn her they could kill Kayda, and there was no way Yua could use her quirk to protect her sister. The blasted ability only protected Yua.

With every muscle tightened, Yua stepped closer. She tried to keep her eyes on his hands but the wound bleeding through his white shirt kept drawing her gaze, as did a variety of other small scrapes and wounds. Bending down into a squat Yua peered straight into his face. His eyes were closed and the furrow to his brows told Yua that he was feeling a decent amount of pain.

She had so many questions, so many concerns, and worries. For now though Yua would settle with saying, "If I offer you aid can I borrow your coat?"

"What's wrong, doll? Are you feeling lonely?" Though before she could speak he beat her to it. He sluggishly tried to smile but it just looked wrong against the grimace of pain contorting his features. So, Yua let the teasing taunt in his smoke-burned voice pass.

"I'm not the type to get lonely. I just wanted to borrow your coat." Yua didn't miss the way her words clipped. She was trying to play the card of not being anxious and tension ridden. He wasn't believing the charade one bit. Which made trying to figure out how she should be moving and speaking that much harder.

"I don't give anything away for free." He whispered, his breath hitching. Yua didn't twitch as he coughed. Her own orbs narrowed at him as his cerulean hues flickered down. While her most vulnerable parts were covered with her legs Yua still didn't appreciate being ogled at.

She might be cold and the heat radiating from him was having an unbearable strong pull on her shivering body, but Yua wasn't going to sink as low and offer him the pleasures of the flesh just for his jacket. She'd rather walk home butt ass naked than suck his dick.

"Pervert." He drawled in an annoying apathetic tone. One that had Yua grinding her teeth, but before she could clambered to her feet he spoke more. "Who's mind goes to the gutter over something like that?"

Fighting the blush creeping onto freckled cheeks, Yua glowered down at him. She was trying to be nice and considerate despite having witnessed what she had, and here he was being an asshole. Yua shouldn't have been surprised or upset.

"Says the man who is blatantly trying to get a peek at the goods."

"Not my fault you stepped into my flames path."

"Not my fault you like to fire off your quirk at four in the morning."

He waved his hand dismissively, but it did little to deteriorate Yua. With his coat or not she wasn't about to let him stay out in the cold while he was wounded and bleeding, not even if he was beginning to rub off as a perverted shady ass weirdo. At least she wasn't seeing any intentions to do her any harm. Though as she stood, ignoring if he got a glimpse of the goods through the ill-lit darkness, Yua knew she would need to be careful. She couldn't just welcome danger into her home where her sister and Choi were.

"Do you want help or not?" Yua finally broke the silence with her question when the feeling of his eyes drilling holes began to eat at her nerves. When he refused to answer Yua frowned. She knew it would dig at her subconscious if she just left him here bleeding but it wasn't like she could just force her help onto him. Maybe, it would be better this way.

"Alrighty then," She turned away from him but cocked her head so she could glance over his figure once more. "-I'll be going then. Don't freeze or die, I guess."

Her arms wrapped around herself and Yua wiggled her toes as she slid across a bit of frozen ice. The walk home was going to be hell, and she could only hope that the man who liked to linger in the hallways would already be in bed when she finally trailed into the building. Yua came to a brief stop at the edge of the alleyway, her eyes scouring for anyone living on the streets.

"What's your quirk?" Yua jerked as a hand pressed itself flesh against the bare of her back, and as the other was used to tug a hood over her head. Yua's senses were overtaken by the smell of ash, what she only wanted to explain as tanning leather, and an obscenely rank body odor. It was hard to determine if it was the scared man or his jacket that needed to be washed, likely both.

"That's not really important, but you can think of it as bug spray for other people's quirks. It repels." There was a lingering heat to his jacket, one Yua hadn't expected. When the fingers attached to the hand planted against her began to slowly move Yua's body involuntarily shook. Though before she could move he plucked his hand away and dipped his fist into the left pocket to fish out a cigarette. Yua had to cling to the article so it wouldn't be tugged away, and when she finally had the hood down her eyes caught a stare of one intrigued. A looked he had fixed on her back in the apartment.

It was a bit unsettling, and not just because of the glimmer in his neon gaze. She hadn't heard him crawl out of the trash, or his footsteps as he consumed the space between them.

"Thanks." She mumbled as chilled fingers quickly set to buttoning buttons after rushing her arms through the sleeves. She watched wordlessly as he slipped the cigarette between parted lips before lighting it with a teardrop of blue flames.

Gnawing on her bottom lip Yua took the action as a crystal clear message. The nameless, homeless, and burnt man was a danger. Someone she really shouldn't poke and prod at.

Though it wasn't the show of flames that frightened Yua. It was knowing that he already knew that his quirk would have no effects on her. If he wanted to hurt her Yua had a feeling he'd be able to succeed. That her little knowledge of self-defense would be next to useless if they got into a hand to hand fight. Something in her belly told her if she couldn't peacefully resolve any issues that might arise then she wouldn't be walking away at all. Even running she doubted would be enough, because there was no telling who would be faster. Quirk or not Yua couldn't shake that if he wanted to kill her he wouldn't hesitate.

Smoke curled around him as he openly glanced about the flesh no longer exposed. He almost seemed pleased with how his coat smothered her.

"Come on." Shifting from foot to foot to keep feeling in them, Yua nodded her head down the street. They were only a few blocks from the building. "You can get cleaned up back at my apartment."

"I don't tend to follow strangers back to their home." He hummed, pausing as if to linger in his own hidden joke. "Never know what kind of creeps there are behind solid walls."

"And, I attempt not to have my whole paycheck engulf in flames but hey sometimes life likes to throw curve balls." Shoving her half frozen hands into his pockets Yua began walking. Unlike before this time she could hear each footstep he took as he followed after. "Besides I wouldn't say we're strangers. More like acquaintances. You did after all break into my home and nap on my couch."

"Touché." Within seconds he was at her side, a bit hunched over and a limp to each step. "You did though leave it unlocked for anyone to come in."

"No." Yua didn't ask as she lugged one of his arms over her shoulders, and while he was a whole head taller the man didn't weigh as much as Yua would have expected. He grimaced at the action but didn't exactly fight. "The lock broke that morning. I don't just leave my doors unlocked for strangers."

They traveled in silence, and Yua didn't attempt to make her curiosity unknown as she glanced up at him repeatedly. A lot had happened and after everything she still didn't know something.

"What are you staring at?"

"Uh… nothing." She wasn't really staring at anything in particular. "So.. uh… What's your name?"

"Dabi."

It was obviously not his real name… right? Not looking away she frowned, wanting to ask what his actual name was, but her tongue held in her mouth. If he didn't want to tell her then so be it. He had at least given her something to call him by.

Jemstone6259 nervously sweating and hyperventilating as she wonders why Dabi had been so terrifying to write. ' Did he sound in character? He wasn't to oc was he? Oh goodness... I think I might just barf.'

I do not own the song lyrics used. Those belong to Crash (which I took from a Detroit : Becoming Human animated video - CrAsH meme || detroit : becoming human) but the song is written by Neovaii. Who else loves the game? I've played it multiple times!

I also don't any characters or plot used in this chapter that originally belonged to MHA.

Thank you for your time and please forgive me for any grammar and spelling issues you may have come across!