The sound of Kurogiri's portals closing echoed behind Dabi. Compress and Kanashimi must have made it through, just a few seconds behind everyone else. He and Shigaraki were currently busy tying up the unconscious Bakugo after their successful kidnapping from the forest.

All things considered, the mission had gone relatively smoothly. The icing on the cake was seeing little Shoto again, his father's so-called masterpiece. And just as he expected, there wasn't a hint of recognition on his youngest brother's face. Not that Endeavor had let the kid around him or his other siblings much at all growing up. He wondered if they would have recognized him as he was now, despite the gruesome burns and dyed hair. Though he guessed he'd find out in due time, this was the first step of many on finally enacting his vengeance on the family that left him behind.

After a moment, the normally loud voices of the other League members behind him got louder than usual and sounded almost panicked over something. As he finished putting restraining cuffs on Bakugo, he turned to see what the commotion was.

Compress was standing by Kana, while the others stood around them with worried expressions. Then Compress put an arm around her shoulders as he started leading her across the room towards the back, with her dog following close behind.

Did she get hurt?

He had just seen them literal seconds ago, and she was fine then as far as he could tell. But as he looked closer, he noticed the trail of blood on the wooden floor that followed behind Kana. The once white bandages on her left arm were drenched red and dripping with blood. He was already walking towards them when Compress called for him.

"Dabi! We might need your flames over here in a moment." The older man said with some urgency.

"What the hell happened?" Dabi asked as he caught up to them. Compress had laid her down on a table in the back, her jacket tossed over next to her. She was unconscious, her face paler than usual.

"I'm not sure, Eraserhead showed up at the last second. I think his quirk canceled out hers, and it's prevented her healing abilities from kicking in." Compress explained while unwrapping the ruined bandages she had bled through and tried to apply pressure to the uncovered wound with a handkerchief he had pulled out. Dabi got a brief glance at the injury and saw a deep cut that went down most of the length of her forearm, one that was reminiscent of the usual injuries she racked up in battle due to her quirk. But unlike those, this one wasn't healing at all, and she had definitely sliced through some of her veins. Even if they had the means to stitch her up, it would take too long with how fast she was losing blood at this point.

Dabi's heart started beating faster, feeling uncomfortably anxious for the first time in a very long time. He wasn't going to let her of all people die. Not when she could be…no, he wasn't letting himself hope that. Not now. It was enough that they seemed to have similar goals and wanted to kill the same person.

With a quick motion, Dabi slid off his belt and wrapped it above her elbow as tight as he could, trying to cut off blood flow as much as possible while Compress put pressure on the wound. Both of their hands were quickly staining red with her blood, and he could hear her dog whining frantically behind them.

"We need to cauterize this…" Dabi mumbled quietly, mostly to himself. He had looked up the process long ago, in case he ever needed to in an emergency, but he hadn't had a chance to use that information till now. He knew his flames were much too hot on their own to do any good, he'd just end up causing more harm to her in the end. But he could control how hot he let metal get.

He quickly turned and scanned the room for something he could use. Luckily, someone nearby had the perfect tool for the job.

"Hey crazy, toss me one of your knives." He demanded, looking back at Toga.

"Huh, why?" She asked, startled by the question as she stared wide-eyed at Kana's unconscious body.

"I need it to help her. Unless you want her to bleed to death." He said flatly, narrowing his eyes at the girl.

Toga made a concerned face, but obliged and tossed it over to him.

"Twice, hold her dog back. It's not going to be happy about this." He commanded as he caught the knife and returned to Compress and Kana.

Twice quickly did so, grabbing the dog by the collar as he gently led it away with Toga's help. Dabi held the knife out and, with his other hand, summoned a fireball under it. Heating the metal until it glowed a dull red, which only took a few seconds.

"Compress, hold her arm still."

Compress did as asked, standing behind her, holding her wrist out with one arm and holding her shoulder still with the other.

"Do forgive us, Kana." Compress whispered quietly to the unconscious girl.

Dabi put out his fire, placing a hand on the blood-drenched cloth covering her arm as he held the knife above it. He quickly removed it and pressed the flat side of the blade down into her skin for a few seconds before letting it off and then placing it down again, slightly further up the wound, slowly searing her arm back together. Her body jerked in pain a bit each time he had to bring the hot knife down, but despite that, she still didn't wake. Dabi could hear her dog growling in the distance, and the all too familiar scent of burnt flesh began to fill the room. Eventually, her bleeding started to slow as he got further up her arm, though she still lost enough for the area to look like a murder scene. His white shirt and Compress' jacket were splattered with her blood.

He had tried his best not to burn her more than necessary, but it was his first time attempting anything like this, so his work was a bit rough. Using his flames for more than just destruction was a novel concept. He never thought they could be used to heal anything he realized as he finally sealed off the last bit of the laceration.

Compress let go of her arm and took off the makeshift tourniquet while Dabi searched her jacket for extra bandages. Once he found them, he put them aside and started disinfecting her wounds with rubbing alcohol that he had also found in her jacket. That's when he noticed her face was twitching in her sleep. Whatever was going on inside her head seemed to be causing her more distress than her wounds being cauterized somehow.

She began to mumble in her sleep, though most of it sounded unintelligible. A distinct syllable here or there being the only thing he could make out. Her eyes twitched behind her closed lids, and her expression became more panicked. Clearly having a nightmare, though that was unsurprising given what her body just went through.

Once he finished cleaning her wounds, he started bandaging her arm as tightly as he could. Her mumbled speech began getting loud enough for him to hear now.

"To…ya…" He heard her say, her voice barely above a whisper. His eyes widened, and his body flinched slightly, thinking he heard his old name. But that wasn't possible. Just his mind trying to make sense of garbled words, like people seeing faces in places there weren't. He dismissed it and continued on, until she spoke once more. Desperation more apparent in her voice this time.

"...please….Touya….don't be dead."

Dabi felt his heart stop. His body froze mid-wrapping her arm. He couldn't deny it this time. She said his name.

No. It's not her. That's not possible. Don't be hopeful.

But, he had had his suspicions about her identity ever since they fought Muscular together. Her quirk even worked similarly, though it was much more refined. But he hadn't been able to confirm her identity yet. He was going to look into it more once this mission was over.

It couldn't actually be her…could it?

Think. How can I make sure…

Some memories had been foggy since waking up after his three-year coma, and he hadn't even seen as much as a picture of her in almost ten years. He had long forgotten what color her eyes were and how her voice sounded. He searched his memories for anything he could use to verify if it was actually her. Then, an image of him wrapping up her shoulder, similar to what he was doing now, came rushing back to him. A time he had gone too far in their training.

I burned her.

The side he had burned was the same one he was bandaging up now. He finished tying off her bandages, then looked up at her shoulder. Right next to the strap of her tank top was a section of scarred skin. Confirming what he was trying so hard to deny.

Akane…

Time seemed to stop. The only sound he could hear was his own heartbeat pounding in his head. Everything else melted away as he looked down at her. Her face becoming more recognizable as years of memories began to flood his brain.

It really was her. His only friend as a kid. Possibly the only person who ever actually cared about him. And she was here, with the League. He remembered her words from two nights ago.

"Endeavor has that honor...he took away someone important to me…I never got to tell him how I felt."

Was she here because of him? No. It had been ten years. There were a million reasons an ex-hero could have it out for Endeavor. She could have been talking about anyone.

But then, why was she having a nightmare about him dying? His chest felt heavy; his breathing was getting out of sync. He had looked for her when he escaped the hospital, but all he ever found was her house abandoned and falling apart, and a news article about her father dying in a car accident the year before he woke up. Looking up her name never produced any results. He thought maybe she had died too, and if she hadn't, he figured she had moved on and was better off without him anyway. Just like his family.

"Dabi, is everything alright?" Compress asked gently, snapping Dabi back to reality.

"Yea… The bleeding stopped. She should be ok for now." Dabi's heart was still pounding in his chest. He felt the muscles under his eyes straining. If his tear ducts weren't burnt shut, he knew he would have been crying by now. The scarred skin under his eyes began to bleed.

He quickly wiped the blood off his face as Akane turned on her side in her sleep. The nightmare seemed to have ended. Dabi grabbed and draped her jacket over her, an act of care he wouldn't have granted anyone besides her. Why did it take him so long to realize who she was?

He remembered the last day he saw her, the day before he died. He had been so excited to show her his new flames, and she had wanted to tell him something too...

He sighed. He was losing focus. He was already a little on edge from seeing his youngest brother again; this was something else entirely. They were still on a mission. He didn't have time for this. He couldn't deal with this right now.

"Compress, keep an eye on her. With how much blood she lost, she could go into shock… I'm going to check on what Shigaraki wants to do with the kid now." Dabi told him, but he couldn't take his eyes off her as he spoke.

Compress merely nodded in response. "I'll let you know if anything happens."

Dabi forced himself to turn away and tossed Toga's knife back to her as he walked by.

"She's gonna be ok, right?" Toga asked, catching the knife and putting it back in its sheath.

"Kana's tough. She won't die from something that dumb. She did lose a lot of blood…" Twice said, sounding a little concerned as he continued to try to soothe the dog. It had stopped growling, but still looked tense.

Eris. That was it's- her name. He had never really paid attention to her before. But looking at her now, he noticed the deep scars across her face and muzzle.

You always did have a habit of taking in broken things, didn't you? He thought as he glanced back at Akane, then he hesitantly reached a hand down to pet her loyal companion.

"She'll make it." Dabi told them quietly, though he couldn't tell if he was reassuring them, the dog, or himself more.

He continued walking over to the other side of the room where Shigaraki stood, keeping an eye on the U.A. student.

"What's up with her?" Their leader asked him.

"Eraserhead's quirk doesn't seem to mix well with her blades and healing abilities."

"That guy never fails at fucking up our plans somehow." Shigiraki complained, though it almost sounded like he admired the hero.

"What's the plan now?" Dabi asked, gesturing towards Bakugo.

"For now, he can sleep. We'll take a moment to rest before convincing him to join. You guys didn't let me down, unlike the other three that went with you. Good work." He said before taking a seat in his usual spot at the bar.

Dabi shrugged, then glanced over at Kurogiri.

"Do we have any antibiotics or pain meds? She's going to need those when she wakes up." He asked, trying to sound calm despite his racing thoughts.

"I'll see to it." The shadowy man replied.

Satisfied enough with that answer, Dabi walked over to stand on guard behind where Bakugo was tied up. Ready to restrain the teenager if he woke up early and tried to fight back. He crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall, as he took a deep breath and tried to decide how to handle the situation with Akane now that he knew he had a while to think.

Even though it was her, did that change anything about his plans? Would he tell her who he was? Did she already know? Could he use her as an ally regardless when he went after his family?

He began to get a headache from the stress. The sound of her voice saying his name kept echoing in his head. He hadn't heard someone say it in so long. Part of him wanted nothing more than to wake her up and tell her everything, but he couldn't take that risk. He didn't tell the League who he was for a reason. He had planned his revenge for so long, he couldn't jeopardize that now.

Bits of memories were still flooding his head. How they trained together, talked in class, read books together, the sleepovers they had, and playing with his younger siblings. The night she got the news about her mother and how he held her under the same tree he eventually died under, the times she hugged him while he cried when he was questioning his existence and purpose in life. The last time he saw her… how she had kissed him on the cheek before leaving for her house. She was supposed to come to Sekoto Peak the next day, but just like his father, she never showed.

He closed his eyes, trying to soothe his thoughts. What happened to her after that?

"Let's do it then. We'll go to U.A. and become heroes. Together!"

Right. They had made a promise to go to U.A. And it looked like she fulfilled that promise. She even went on to become a hero. Without him. But, what happened that led her here, to the League?

He looked back over at her, she hadn't moved since he threw her jacket over her. Compress was sitting nearby, keeping watch over her.

At the very least, he needed to know more before he made a decision about what to do. After they dealt with Bakugo, he'd talk to her and find out how she ended up here. And depending on her answers, maybe he would tell her the truth.

Despite his frantic thoughts, two things kept repeating that gave him more relief than he had felt in years.

She was alive.

And she remembered him.

Akane did not sleep peacefully. Memories of her childhood and of all those she lost flickered through her mind. Visions of her mom frail and hooked to machines, and Touya bursting into flames in a forest haunted her dreams.

She started hearing the familiar voices of Twice and Toga as consciousness slowly began to come back to her. As she began to wake up more, she remembered what happened. They had gotten Bakugo and went through the portals, but she had gotten injured. Eraserhead had shown up right before they went through, and she began bleeding out. Compress had helped her walk over to a table once they arrived back. Then everything went black, and the nightmares started.

It had been a long time since she dreamed about Touya. She had recurrent nightmares about his death for years after he died, but nowadays, she rarely dreamed at all. It was a little jarring. Her heart was still pounding heavily, and she felt drying tears on her face.

As her eyes began to open, the warm light of the League's base began to bring her back to reality. When she started to sit up, her jacket fell into her lap. She guessed someone covered her with it while she slept. She took a look around the room, trying to find her bearings. Dabi was towards the front of the room with Bakugo, still unconscious, tied to a chair in front of him. Kurogiri was in his usual spot behind the bar, talking to Tomura. Spinner and Magne were also sitting by the bar, while Twice and Toga were one table over from her playing cards. Eris was curled up beneath the table, still unaware that she was awake.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, my dear." Compress called from Akane's left side. Startling her slightly. He was sitting in a chair a few feet from her. With how far he was from everyone else, she assumed he had been on guard duty for her.

"Here, take these before you get up." He said, handing her a handful of pills, and a glass of water.

Akane quickly downed the meds, knowing at least one of them had to be for pain, which she was slowly becoming more aware of. And the cool water soothed her dry throat.

"Thanks…how long was I out?" She asked, carefully putting on her jacket, pushing up her sleeves, and looking over her fresh bandages. She felt the familiar sensation of burn wounds under the wrappings. It hurt, a lot, but she was still alive.

"It's only been a few hours. We thought you might die. You lost quite a bit of blood back there."

She saw the dried blood trail still on the ground leading to the table. At the other end was a large puddle of dried blood from where they had initially exited the portal.

"Sorry about that. Thanks for helping me out, Compress."

"My pleasure. We haven't even finished our first act yet; it'd be a shame to lose anyone this early on in the show. Besides, you should be thanking Dabi. He's the one who fixed you up. It was too late for stitches, so he had to cauterize your injury. " Compress explained, gently tapping his cane rhythmically against the ground as he spoke.

Akane looked back up to where Dabi stood, leaning against the wall across the room. Compress dropped his cane a little harder against the ground this time, which made Dabi turn his head toward them. Her eyes met his across the room for a brief second. Akane gave him a small wave, and he quickly looked away, staring back down at the ground.

She'd have to thank him later; she would have actually died without his help.

The sound of Compress' cane hitting the floor had also woken Eris up, who was now happily whining at Akane. She jumped onto the table and leaned into her uninjured side as Akane hugged her neck.

"Holy shit, Kana, you're alive! I knew you'd make it. I was sure this was the end for you." Twice said, excitedly standing up from his table and walking towards them.

Toga stood up too and skipped over.

"Hope you don't mind, but I did take some of your blood while you were passed out." The younger girl said, pulling out a vial of blood from her pouch and holding it in front of her.

"I'd be disappointed in you if you didn't take any. Just use it for something cool, at least." Akane laughed, as she hopped down from the table. She was still a little disoriented from blood loss, but she could manage.

Toga froze, but then gave her a genuine smile like she was expecting a different response from her. Akane got the feeling that Toga liked to unsettle people for fun and wasn't used to validation.

"You bet! Glad you didn't die. That would have totally sucked." She tucked the vial of blood back where she pulled it from, and her and Twice then went back to their card game.

Akane stretched out her arms a bit. She was stiff everywhere from sleeping on the table. She couldn't stretch out her left arm too much before she felt the burns begin to pull on her skin. She'd have to take it easy for a while. Eris had also jumped down, and was glued to her side.

"So, what's going on now?" She asked, looking over at Compress.

"We're waking up Bakugo soon. Shigaraki has a speech in mind to convince him to join the League. If you're feeling up to it, he might want you close by when he begins since you used to go to that school too." He explained.

"I think I can manage that much." She said with some determination, happy to still be of use after being a burden to the others. She gave Eris the command to stay with Compress just in case anything happened if Bakugo broke out of his restraints, then made her way across the room.

"How's it going with the kid?" She asked as she approached Shigaraki and Kurogiri.

"He's still knocked out, but he should be awake soon. Then we'll extend him an invitation to our little club."

"And if he doesn't agree to join us in the end?" She asked.

"We kill him." Shigaraki replied coldly.

"Works for me." Akane shrugged.

She then walked over to where Dabi stood, ready to stand watch with him in case the kid tried to attack when he woke up.

He was still leaning against the wall, his arms crossed, not acknowledging her presence as she took post on Bakugo's right side. She stood there for a moment, watching the others silently across the room. She wasn't sure what to say exactly. She'd never been in a position where someone had to save her before. And she never expected him to be the one to do it. She hoped she hadn't disappointed him in some way.

She took a breath, collecting her thoughts, and then turned back to look at Dabi

"Hey, so I just wanted to say thanks. I don't think I'd be standing here without your help. You saved my life." She said, awkwardly staring at the floor, only looking up at him once she finished talking. She could feel him watching her as she spoke until she made eye contact with him, which caused him to quickly look away. His white shirt was still covered in her blood, she noticed, and a bit of guilt ate away at her for causing so much trouble.

"Don't mention it." he said, staring across the room, avoiding her eyes.

"Right… I do owe you one, though." She said, unsure why there seemed to be tension between them now. Maybe it was just her own anxiety about the situation.

Dabi was quiet for a moment, but then he uncrossed his arms and looked up at her, finally making eye contact. His normally piercing gaze looked almost gentle.

"Actually, you saved me first. We're even now."

Akane tilted her head to the side, unsure of what he meant.

He gave her the faintest hint of a smile.

"Back in that fight with Muscular. You kept him from punching me through that wall. So, you don't owe me anything. I was just returning the favor."

She laughed. "I guess you're right. Still, though, I wouldn't be here without you, so I appreciate it. I still have some things I need to do before I die." Her thoughts drifted back to her dreams, and the reason she joined the League in the first place.

"I know what you mean." He said, seeming a little distant before snapping out of it, and looking down at her arm.

"Sorry if I burned you more than necessary. Never had to do that before." He said, a slight bit of regret in his voice.

"It'll be fine. It's not my first time getting burned. I don't mind it." She reassured him, realizing she had almost missed the feeling of it. It reminded her of training with Touya, and she wondered if that pain was why she had had nightmares about him while she was unconscious.

Dabi nodded, then crossed his arms and stared back down at the ground.

There was a comfortable silence between them, even though Dabi still seemed a little stiff and distant. It wouldn't be long now till Bakugo woke up. The second phase of the plan was about to begin.