I don't own My Hero Academia, all rights go to Horikoshi-sensei.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
The rain stung, like little needles from the heavens. No matter how fast she ran, she still felt it on her skin and under her sweater. It blinded her, struck her, as though the world itself was set on directing its fury at her.
Her shoes struck the puddles on the pavement, sending the water flying and sloshing her feet. She didn't stop, even if those were her only socks.
She was wet, it was wet, everything was wet. But it wasn't like that pretty redthat she felt running through her fingers. No warmth, no stickiness, no clinging; only cold, pain and contempt.
*Sniff*
No, no tears. Not yet. Everything already hurt. No need to make it hurt more.
Didn't the birdie get hurt? Did the teeth cause pain as it squirmed?
Yes...but it was so good! So pretty!
A smile came over her, then swiftly banished. She had to get out, get out, getoutgetoutgetout!
Away from them, away from the looks, away from the fear, the...the hole. The cage.
So she kept running, running and running under the cloudy night sky. No one saw her, and no one cared. Who did?
Under a doorway, she halted. Her panting echoed within the small space. Her clothes were completely waterlogged. A weight preventing her from running faster. But even with her youth, she knew that it was the one thing keeping her from an icy death.
The window reflected her broken form, and when she looked up, she was taken aback by what she saw.
A soggy wreck, a pitiful-looking thing, a creature that crawled out of the sewers, complete with yellow eyes and a body dripping water.
It was scary, something out of an old horror cartoon she saw, and she didn't want to see it. It wasn't cute, it wasn't pretty. So she smiled.
But was it any better? If anything, she looked far more horrid.
"Hee...hee..." even the giggle sounded like that of a monster.
Tearing her gaze away, she stared at the shrouded streets. It would be colder and wetter, but she didn't wanna stay. Not with that - not with the monster.
...but monsters like the red.
And thus, she kept on running. Dashing and turning left and right. Far away from the monster.
The sky grew darker and the people scarcer. Not even cars were out driving. She stuck to the sides of buildings, right under shingles and door spaces.
And as she moved forward, the scenery slowly started to change. The buildings became greyer, the streets grew dirtier, and the air grew ever-so-slightly fouler. But she barely paid attention to that. All on her mind was getting far away.
Then, she saw it. Under a flickering streetlight, an open door. A big open door to a big, tall, house.
With a final sprint, she dashed inside. The rain stopped striking her, the sound of the torrent dimming. Panting, the girl looked around.
The place looked deserted. Broken boxes, barrels, and banged-up furniture were scattered across the floor. Two lamps hung from the rafters above, barely illuminating the space.
A hovel, that's what it was. A nasty, dirty, hovel. But it was warm - warmer than outside at least.
But not as warm as the house. Not as warm as the red as it flowed past her lips.
She slowly walked forward, carefully watching her step. The ground looked hard and lots of dirty things were around her, but there had to be someplace nice to rest.
Maybe above? There are stairs leading to a ramp. She places a foot on the dark piece of metal, only to quickly withdraw it as a loud creak reverberated around her.
Not upstairs then. So she kept looking. No, not that one, too many pointy things. Not there either, it looked too dirty. Too stinky, too sticky.
Aha! There! Between two barrels, a nice dry spot against a wall. There were bricks, but they were covered with gray putty that looked soft.
The girl trudged toward the spot and when she stopped in front of it, her shoulders sagged. A heavy breath escaped her lungs and more wetness gathered beneath her eyes.
She turned around, lowered herself onto the cold ground, and leaned backward until her head touched the putty. The sogginess of her sweater became even more apparent as it pressed onto her shirt and skin. The once warm clothing now chilled her as the rain had moments ago.
"Hee...hee...hee..."
She wanted to feel the warmth again. That beautiful, gushing warmth which flowed through her. She read it was something that it was inside everyone so, maybe if...she idly fingered the object under her shirt. But she also heard that if she lost too much of it, she would get sick.
Her breath quickened as she wrapped her arms around her short self, rocking back and forth in place. Her lips turned up again, but she might as well have been screaming.
No Mommy, don't put me there! I just wanted to see the pretty red again! Why can't I see the pretty red!?
The pretty red was warm, she needed the warmth. She gripped the object again and fingered it, maybe one little -
"Oi."
Her eyes shot wide open. Slowly, she turned her head right toward the sudden voice.
He was tall. A black jacket. Blue eyes seemed to stare right through her. A shiver ran through her like the needles that splashed against her not moments ago.
"Who are you?"
His voice sounded like dirty sand. Was it scary? Yes? No? She didn't know.
"Didn't you hear? I asked who the hell are you?"
She blinked and swallowed. "T-Toga."
He looked up and down at her. "What are you doing here?"
"...I'm cold."
"You skipped school or something? Go home."
She shook her head. "I can't."
The older man kept staring at her. Then, he stepped out into the dim light.
Toga didn't even notice her breath hitch. He was covered in scars, purple ugly things that were under his eyes and shirt and over his arms. Each patch held back by metal bits and pieces.
"This is my hideout, kid. Go back to your mommy and daddy and play with your dolls."
Her hands twitched, itching for the one thing other than the clothes on her back that she had taken from that home. "I-I can't, I told you."
"Why? Mommy took your favorite toy? Daddy doesn't wanna help?" He took a step forward and flexed his fingers, his teeth flashing. "Boo-hoo, I don't give a shit, so why don't you-"
"THEY'LL PUT ME BACK THERE AGAIN!" her voice now resembled the step she had tried to climb.
The man (teen?) paused, a faint twitch in his eye. The blonde was trembling, that hysterical smile half-plastered on her face.
"I j-just wanted to see the pretty red again, it felt so warm, so nice. It tasted so good. The birdie had lots of it, why couldn't it share? But they screamed at me, threw me in there." She had curled into herself even further and looked down. "I couldn't see, I couldn't hear. They let me out, then I saw a kitty. I tried to pet it, but it hurt me. Showed me my pretty red. So I showed it his, drank it. Then...I was there again."
A whisper was what she was reduced to, her feline eyes wide and swollen red, leaking salty tears. The shivers had grown uncontrollably. The scarred teen stared at her for a moment before slowly lowering his shoulders as she kept mumbling. A few moments later, he sighed.
"Come on."
Toga paused and looked back up, sniffling. What? "You'll freeze to death like that. Get up and follow me."
It took her a couple of seconds, but Toga managed to nod and did as he asked. He walked to the right and she saw a small pit with a big tattered blanket next to it, along with a few bottles of water.
The teen headed to the pit and pointed at the blanket. "Wrap yourself up in this."
She took a step forward but then - FWOOSH!
A blazing blue fire now burned in the pit.
She gaped. Was that his power - no, Quirk! - it had to be!
"Oi, stop staring. Get yourself wrapped up."
She shook her head and sat down, wrapping the large cloth around her. It itched, really bad, and it stunk. But it was better than being wet.
The water bottle next to her caught her eye and she grabbed it, chugging down its contents in one long gulp. Throwing the bottle away, she stared at the fire. It was pretty too, but not like the pretty red. She couldn't touch it or hold it. But it was warm, way warmer. But didn't blue mean colder?
She didn't know how long she was like that. When she talked again, the rain was still there, drowning the black world.
"Your Quirk is cool, Mister Scar."
He snorted. "Thanks, and it's Dabi to you, kid."
Dabi...nope, Mister Scar sounded cuter!
"Nice to meet you Mister Scar!"
He shot her a deadpan stare. She smiled back at him. Eventually, he sighed again.
"Aww, don't be sad! Mister Scar is a cute name! How did you get them?"
He opened his mouth, then paused. His face turned neutral, only that twitching telling that something was wrong.
"...my daddy wanted me to be a hero. I showed him what I could do but..." he clenched his fist and the fire flared up. "He left. It was so hot...turned me into this..." he spat. "Then I find he replaced me!"
In the end, he was hunching over and panting, staring again into the fire.
"...I hate my daddy too."
"...yeah."
Dabi then gave her another strange look, then smirked. "You say you drink the 'pretty red'? Maybe that's your Quirk."
She sniffed. "Really?"
"Maybe. Just don't drink mine, it tastes terrible. Believe me, I've tried."
She stared at him, her eyes dilating. The thing was in her grasp again. Could she? If she ran...
...but then it wouldn't be warm anymore. Maybe not tonight.
"Yeah, yours must be black and nasty."
He blinked, then leaned back, letting out a bark of laughter. "HAH! Kid, you have no idea!"
She giggled again. Yeah, maybe not tonight. Maybe she'll see what it looks like tomorrow...
...but for now, she would stare at the pretty blue. The nice and warm pretty blue.
Hi there folks! I figured I might take a break from my other fanfics to post this oneshot. Depressing as hell, but a pleasant little what-if situation where Dabi and Toga met on the streets during the blonde's younger years, shortly after her parents discovered her fascination with blood. In terms of age, Dabi is 7 years older.
If you like this story, go check out my other ones, and if you want to chat, I'm on discord as DarkscytheDrake#0312 or on my server, discord . gg / vjT67NY2Y2 "Drake's Lair."
Most importantly...
READ AND REVIEW!