Category: Friendship Fluff

Characters: Himiko Toga, Dabi

Warning! The beginning of this story depicts a bloody nightmare, and so readers should take caution before reading!

The blood burned Himiko's skin as it drenched her face, her hands, her throat. Its iron tang spread over her tongue with every gasping pant her lungs heaved, making her tongue loll out between long, agonized screams. Himiko adored blood; she'd always had that morbid fascination, that insane need to consume to thick, ruby-red, life-giving liquid. But this- this was different. Himiko never thought it would be the case, but it was too much blood. The dense fluid gushed into her mouth and down her throat as it cascaded over her like a waterfall; where was it coming from? It seemed to rain from the heavens in bucketloads, soaking Himiko from head-to-toe. As it filled her lungs instead of air, Himiko's chest heaved as it grew heavier and heavier, like an iron weight was slowly digging into her sternum.

Himiko was drowning.

"Noooo… Agh… Ungh… Pl-eee-ase…" Grotesque chokes, gurgles, and sobs bubbled around the blood coursing down her trachea. Himiko clutched at her throat as she lurched forward, planting her hand against the cobblestoned alley floor submerged beneath the lake of blood splashing around her. The angle allowed her to regurgitate the hot, suffocating fluid, but now the stream was crashing down onto her shoulders and back. Himiko's elbow began to wobble violently back and forth as her slim arm struggled to hold the weight of her drenched body and clothes combined with the cascade's pressure. Tears leaked out of her eyes to carve through the splashes of red on her cheeks.

"Why? Why, why, why, why?" she demanded, voice cracking in the middle of the scream as terror and frustration shattered her mind. A long, agonized groan followed. Her entire body pulsed with pain, and she swore she could hear her cells screaming. Maybe it was herself screaming. Perhaps she was actually hearing the shrill laments of those she'd slain in her hemophilic mania. Himiko didn't know.

Himiko's eyelids drooped as exhaustion crept through her, cell by cell. Finally, her arm caved, and she flopped lifelessly into the blood; the stream continued to crash down into her back to flow in rivers through the folds of her soaking wet clothes. It pooled over her, coating every inch of her person in bright red. The blood flooded into her mouth again. This time, Himiko simply embraced it- embraced her rapidly approaching death.

Is this my punishment?

Himiko awoke with a shrill scream. Her fingers clutched the pink-striped comforter in a white-knuckled grip, and the sheets tangled around her body were damp with perspiration. Himiko's gaze snapped wildly around the room, not settling on anything long enough to even determine what it was, as her body slowly came down from the horrifying high. The bed creaked and groaned with the violent tremors that gripped her body. Second by painstaking second, Himiko gradually exited the terrifying nightmare and eased back into reality. Her tense muscles slowly relaxed until she slumped forward, chin banging against her chest.

"Phew…" Her muscles pulsed with a dull ache from clenching so hard during her terrifying dream. Sniffling her still tear-heavy eyes, Himiko rubbed at them with the heels of her palms, spreading the salty liquid in her blonde lashes and around her eyelids. Then, she tipped her head back with a deep sigh, looking at the water-stained and cracked ceiling of their ramshackle hideout. After pouting at the popcorn ceiling for a moment, she flung the comforter off herself, her blank slate of a fear-jellied mind compelled only by an instinct for hydration.

The door to her bedroom creaked in protest as she pried it open, spilling the moonlight from her small window into the dark hall. The dull droning of low-volume video echoed through the thin hall, originating from Dabi's room in the back corner of the ruined apartments. Dabi usually fell asleep with the television on, if he fell asleep at all. Many a time, she'd crept back there out of curiosity to see him lounging on the sofa, swigging a beer and watching the late-night programming with disinterested lidded electric blue eyes. This time she headed in the opposite direction towards the bar to procure herself a glass of water.

The bar echoed with light clinking as Himiko removed a whiskey glass from the cabinet. The soles of her feet pitter-pattered against the wood, causing it to groan every so often as she displaced the settling wood. She turned the faucet on at half-strength to not awaken the group of villains with the gushing stream. Her efforts went unfounded, because as soon as the water spilled forth, Himiko released a strangled gasp and dropped the glass down in the sink. In Himiko's imagination, thick red blood spurted from the dirty chrome faucet, drenching her hand in hot, sticky mess. She crouched down immediately, quaking with wide eyes, and clenched the countertop in a tight grip to ground herself.

"It was just a dream. It was just a dream. It was just a dream," Himiko repeated feverishly. Slowly, she straightened up to peek just over the top of the counter into the sink; now, crystal-clear water was trickling from the faucet, splashing down on the marbled surface of the whiskey glass. Sighing deeply, Himiko returned to a standing position and retrieved the glass. Though the sides were now slick with water, she still filled it with the liquid and downed it quickly. It didn't comfort her like she thought it would have. Perhaps she should've opted for whiskey.

"A little early to be day drinking," a deep voice purred from the hall's entryway. Himiko glanced over to see Dabi leaning against the wall with arms crossed as he regarded her with critical blue eyes. Himiko clicked her tongue and drank another glass of water, then shut off the faucet. She set the glass in the sink to attend to later, gently so as not to make any more unnecessary noise, before turning to Dabi. Her weary must've been carved into her face, because his mouth twitched up into a sympathetic smirk and he breathed, "So you get 'em too, huh?"

"Everybody does," she shrugged indifferently. Well, she didn't know if everyone got nightmares where they were drowning in blood, but she refrained from commenting on that. Dabi hummed thoughtfully and continued to stare levelly at her nightgown-clad form. Nervous under his intense stare, she wrung the hem of her sleep-dress and regarded him shiftily. "Did you come in here to tease me, Dabi? Because I will stab you," she threatened. Dabi snorted and rolled his head, stretching the tendon in his neck into a taut line as he looked belittingly at her.

"Do you really think I'm that much of an ass? 'S'not a teasing matter," he grumped. Himiko's eyes widened a little. With a small "tch," he rubbed the stretched plane of his neck and studied the dusty floor. "Contrary to what you may believe, I came to check on you." Himiko's mouth parted in a small, shocked gasp as she stared incredulously at Dabi. His scarred face distorted into an uncomfortable scowl, but his blue eyes flickered to her, burning with acute concern. Himiko found herself melting at the sentiment, a dreamy smile spreading wide over her face.

"Really~? How sweet of you, Dabi! I didn't know you had it in you~!" she trilled while skipping across the kitchen to stand in front of him. He immediately stiffened and reared back a little, shocked by her sudden invasion of his personal space. Himiko leaned in, eyes glittering as she relished the fact that she might get some comfort and affection for once, even if it was from someone as emotionally constipated as Dabi. "Hug me!" she asked, opening her arms wide and scrunching up her face in a broad smile.

Himiko was only teasing. She knew Dabi would only offer a few words and then retreat to his room for the night. Honestly, Himiko felt a lot better just knowing he cared enough to check on her, so she'd just taken the opportunity to joke around. That's all it was.

That's why it completely floored her when he wrapped an arm around her head and jammed her nose into her stubborn in a firm, purposeful embrace. Himiko's eyes blew wide as a dull pain bloomed across the bridge of her nose at the brunt action, but she honestly wasn't even aware of it, because her mind was too bust reeling in shock. For a few seconds, her arms remained splayed out on either side, fingers twitching as her cognition struggled to process the sudden turn of events.

"Such a pain," Dabi drawled with a small sigh. Himiko's eyes watered at the affection bleeding into his tone, and her tears stained the dark gray fabric of his tee-shirt. Slowly, her arms lowered so she could curl her fingers into the cloth, bunching it up and twisting it tight. A low, mournful groan resounded in her chest, and the dam broke to release fresh tears down her cheeks. She cried softly and pitifully into Dabi's chest while he continued to nestle her head between his pectorals. "I knew it. You don't have to pretend you're all happy all the time, you know," he said softly. "It's okay to let it out every once in a while."

Himiko cried about a lot more than the nightmare. The emotions kept flowing and so did the tears, but Dabi patiently allowed her to sob it out, caring naught for the sizeable wet stain that developed on his tee-shirt. After about fifteen minutes of petulant crying, Himiko finally felt drained, both of energy and sadness. It left her feeling clean- like she'd stripped every layer of herself down to a raw being, ready to start anew. It was more refreshing than she'd ever thought possible.

Dabi's arm shifted to the nape of her neck as she slowly lifted her head to blink tearily at him. The scar tissue of his face stretched at the metal staples as he grinned. "Feel better?"

"Yeah… Thanks," Himiko smiled warmly and wiped the lingering tears away with the tips of her thumbs. Slowly, Dabi's arm dropped from her shoulders to flop loosely to his side and slipped into his pajama pants' pocket. Shyly, she clasped her hands behind her back and swayed her body from side to side. "You're really nice when you wanna be!" she praised. Dabi snorted.

"Yo, don't go spreadin' rumors or anything. If I hear you gloating to the others, I'll burn your eyebrows off." Himiko gasped, affronted, and slapped her hands over her brow to protect the thin bands of hair. Dabi laughed, but she didn't doubt he would if she really talked. Not that she was going to, anyway- she liked the idea of sharing this secret with him. It almost felt like having a begrudgingly caring older brother who'd steal the moon for her if she asked, but wouldn't admit to anyone that he did it out of love.

"Don't worry!" she assured, still holding her eyebrows. "It's our secret! I'll even pinky-swear!" Emphatically, she jammed out her pinky. Dabi snorted again, but smirked amusedly as he looped his pinky with hers.

"Whatever. I'm goin' back to bed," Dabi gruffed, promptly turning on his heel to melt back into the dark, gloomy hallway. Himiko leaned around the corner of the wall to watch him retreat, holding her hands over her brow arches until she heard his bedroom door click. She then smiled contentedly, dropping her arms to her sides with a happy giggle.

"It's our secret," she hummed to herself again. "I'm the only one ever who got to see Dabi's soft side! Hehe, lucky me." Himiko held a hand over her heart as warmth filled her body from head-to-toe. It was so unlike that hot, suffocating heat that enveloped her in the nightmare; this warmth was soft, embracing, like being wrapped in a cozy blanket after a long day in the cold. "Lucky me," she repeated softly, eyelids drooping as she considered how lucky she was- lucky to find this weird, quirky, dysfunctional little family. They were villains, but they deserved love and comfort too- and they were more than willing to show it when needed.

"All right. Time for bed!" Himiko huffed and scampered back down the hall to her bedroom. Before she entered, she paused in the threshold and called softly down the hall, "G'night, Dabi." There was a brief pause.

"Night."

Himiko smiled broadly and shot into her bedroom, belly-flopping on the bed. Giggling contentedly, she snuggled into her pillow and once more looked at the dirty, decrepit ceiling. Sure, it was gross and probably a health hazard- but hey, it was home, the home she shared with her family. She couldn't ask for a better one.