She honestly didn't know what she expected. A few hours of intensive training and Spinner hadn't even landed a single good hit on her. They were fighting on stage with their swords sheathed to avoid seriously hurting each other. The other members of the League of Villains, having nothing else better to do, were all sitting in on their performance while they waited for Kurogiri and Shigaraki to return to the theater. Dabi had yet to return to their current hideout himself so in the meantime, Yuka had taken it upon herself to train Spinner so he would be more efficient combat-wise in future encounters.
She thought for sure that this weirdo had most certainly wielded a sword before, even if it was just a pretend sword he got from his local weeb shop, but very quickly, it became clear to her that the guy had never touched a blade in his life. The way he clumsily wielded the thing made Yuka physically cringe on the inside. She had seen small children more proficient than he was... After having his ass handed to him for the who-knows-how-manyth time, Spinner came crashing to the ground with Yuka having barely moved a muscle to get him there.
"This is pointless! We've been at it for hours!" he complained loudly as he painfully got back up on his feet.
A few snickers could be heard coming from the audience. Twice and Toga were sitting next to each other, huddled up together as they laughed and pointed at their teammate. Magne was laughing behind them. Compress was sitting a few rows ahead of the three with his mask off. Unlike his two comrades, he tried to keep his composure, but it was clear from the way he hid the lower part of his face with his hand that he was desperately trying to hide the fact that he too was laughing at Spinner's performance. Yuka didn't seem to notice or care about how the others were reacting to the whole spectacle. She merely kept her eyes trained on her pupil, who was getting visibly frustrated by his lack of progress.
"Also, it's impossible to concentrate when these FOOLS are laughing in the background!" he continued to whine loudly as he turned to shoot daggers at his mocking companions.
Yuka's eyes narrowed as she stepped forward to hit him with the butt of her sword, silencing him as her pommel came crashing into his face, hitting him square on the nose.
"Do you honestly think you'll be of any use to us if you keep letting other people put you down?" she reprimanded him harshly. "Who cares about what they think? You should be more concerned with yourself and your own performance..."
She turned her back to him and threw her sheathed sword on one of the old couches that were lying around the old stage.
"Besides," she started to speak. "It's clear we're not getting anywhere with your training right now." She turned to look at him again. "You are seriously lacking when it comes to fighting, so we'll start again by going back to the basics." She motioned for him to approach her. "Ditch the sword and face me."
Spinner seemed surprised by her sudden change of tactics, but immediately did as he was told and left his sword near the frayed curtains before running towards her with his fist in the air. His movements were so obvious that it barely took any effort to divert his attack. Frustrated, Spinner tried to punch her again, still with no success.
"Your movements are too predictable!" Yuka pointed out. "If you want to stand any kind of chance against your opponents, you've got to learn how to make your movements harder to predict, or else you'll always fall short."
She planted her fist straight into his sternum, abruptly cutting off his air supply and making him step back a few paces. While he recovered from her punch, Yuka stepped towards him to grab him by the wrists.
"Also, you're not taking advantage of your quirk enough," she said, waving his limp hands in front of his face. "You've got claws, use them! Whether you like it or not, you're stuck with this quirk, so make it work for you. You'll be less predictable that way."
She let go of his hands and stepped back to give him some space. Once he was ready for another round, she nodded affirmatively and motioned for him to strike at her. Spinner then lunged at her again, this time making sure that his punches were a bit more varied so that he was a bit harder to predict. Yuka still managed to keep up with his strikes, however, so Spinner shifted to using his feet and incorporating a few kicks into his combos. Yuka was impressed to finally see him learning something and let him continue exploring his fighting style while she blocked him with her forearms. After a few exchanges though, she was caught off guard by him incorporating a claw attack into his combo. His claws scraped her arm painfully, making her flinch, and it came as such a surprise to him and the others that combat suddenly stopped once he realized what he had done.
"Oh my god are you ok-" he started to say.
"I'm fine," Yuka quickly cut him off.
She looked down to examine her arm, now striated with bloody claw marks. She then promptly took off her tank top, revealing a black sports bra underneath. Underneath her clothes, Yuka had quite the athletic build. It was clear from her musculature that she had undergone extensive physical training and that she regularly kept herself in shape. Seeing her without her shirt made Spinner blush as he looked away while Yuka wrapped her top around the open wound on her arm. While she did so, she could feel Toga's eyes firmly fixated on her as she stared at her with blushing cheeks. Yuka tried not to let it bother her and once her arm was fully wrapped, she turned her attention towards Spinner.
"That was good," she complimented him. "You managed to catch me off guard. That's exactly what you need to do when you're fighting an opponent. You also managed to take advantage of your quirk. Well done..."
Spinner had fully expected her to scold him or reprimand him for hurting her, but instead, she was praising him for what he did. His previously worried face suddenly lit up with joy as he looked back at the others with a smug look on his face.
"But," Yuka continued. "You need to keep at it. There are a lot more ways you could be incorporating your quirk into your fighting style. You have the ability to go where others can't reach. Use that to your advantage. Flank your opponents, slip past their defenses. I know this'll be harder to achieve once you're wielding a weapon, but while we're fighting like this, it's good to use everything at your disposal."
"Alright, I'll try to use my quirk more," Spinner said to her confidently.
She nodded in response before assuming a defensive position. Spinner then went back on the offensive, combining fist and claw attacks while also sprinkling a few kicks in the mix. This forced Yuka to move a lot more, since she had to stay clear of Spinner's claws in order for her not to get hurt. As they moved around the stage, Yuka suddenly turned around to see that Spinner had completely vanished from view. While she looked around to see where he had gone, she was immediately caught off guard by him coming from behind and elbowing her in the back. She fell forward, almost losing her balance, but she managed to stay on her feet. Spinner had latched himself onto the wall behind her while they were fighting and had surprised her with an attack. Things were getting a lot more interesting now. Yuka smiled behind her mask as she stared Spinner down. She then went on the offensive, assaulting Spinner with a flurry of blows. This caught him by surprise as she had been fighting defensively up to this point. Before she had time to overwhelm him with her attacks, he quickly jumped back onto the wall he had been previously attached to, then propelled himself over her so that he would land behind her. He then lunged at her again. He knew that she couldn't block his claw attacks and that his claws forced her to move a lot more, so he prioritized using those instead of his regular punches. Even though this put her at a slight disadvantage, Yuka was glad to see Spinner using his gifts to his advantage. The others also seemed pumped to see that Spinner was actually doing good for once. But Yuka couldn't let him win that easily. She had been holding back against him up until now so that he could get a better feel for his fighting style, but now things were going to get serious.
In between two of his attacks, she found an opening and interrupted his previous combo, punching him straight in the stomach with a surprising amount of force. This forced him backwards where Yuka started to pummel him with her own series of punches. Despite her being smaller than him, her fists packed a lot more punch than Spinner anticipated. He was slowly being overpowered by her, despite him doing his best to slash her with his claws. At some point, Yuka didn't seem to mind them anymore, even though he had managed to scrape her a few times, leaving a few shallow marks along her stomach and arms.
Amidst the escalating intensity of the battle, a familiar silhouette flickered at the edge of Yuka's vision. She instantly recognized Dabi's form nonchalantly leaning against the door frame leading into the main showing room. While she was distracted by Dabi's sudden appearance, Spinner had managed to slip past her defenses and was now pulling his fist back to deliver her a mighty blow. Unfortunately, she didn't have enough time to dodge and was quickly met with Spinner's fist planting itself deep in her abdomen. She gasped out painfully, her mouth tasting sour as she fought back the urge to vomit in her mask. She barely had time to react before Spinner quickly chained his first attack with a second, his knee painfully colliding with her face as it sent both her and her mask flying. She landed a few feet away from him as her mask slid across the stage. The room fell completely silent as everyone slowly realized the gravity of what had just occurred.
Spinner quickly rushed to Yuka's side since she was not moving. Once he arrived, he was relieved to find her still fully conscious. She was still reeling from his last attack and her nose had started to bleed profusely. It looked slightly out of place as well which overwhelmed him with guilt.
"Oh my god Mia' I'm-... I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed, rushing to help her up.
Yuka groaned painfully as she slowly rose from the ground. Pushing Spinner aside, she lifted a hand to her bleeding nose, the wetness staining her hand red as she withdrew it from her face.
"God... is everyone going to call me that now?" she grunted angrily, before placing both of her hands around her nose and jerking back into place with a loud crack.
Toga cringed as she heard Yuka's nose snap back into place. She quickly rushed to the stage to give her a handkerchief for her nose, then turned towards Spinner with a stern look on her face.
"Idiot! You didn't have to go that hard on her!" she scolded him before repeatedly hitting him on the head.
"Ouch! I didn't mean to!" Spinner protested loudly.
Meanwhile, as Toga's hanky soaked up the blood from her nose, Yuka walked over towards where her mask had fallen. Despite not seeing any pieces flying away when she was hit, she worried it might have been damaged during their fight. Holding their breath, everyone watched as she carefully picked it up from the ground and examined it. Luckily, it had come out completely unscathed from her scuffle with Spinner, which was very good news for him since she had only just received it from Giran.
"So it's... not broken?" Spinner asked tentatively as she approached.
"No..." Yuka answered flatly.
Her eyes shot back towards Spinner, glaring at him coldly before hitting him square in the jaw.
"OWWW!" he yelled.
"That's for breaking my nose you fucking idiot!" she snapped angrily, wincing at the pain.
"I said I was sorry!"
Yuka maintained her cold stare, gently massaging her nose before checking to see if it was still bleeding. While Spinner was getting an earful from Toga, Yuka checked to see if Dabi was still in the room. Sure enough, he was still standing underneath the door frame with a huge smirk plastered across his face. Yuka glared at him from afar, then turned away from him as she went to retrieve her sword from the sofa.
"Even though you went way overboard in the end," Yuka spoke. "I have to admit you did good, Spinner."
Toga suddenly stopped pestering Spinner as he looked back at Yuka with a beaming smile.
"That means a lot Mia-... uh, I mean, Yuka," he corrected himself quickly.
"We still need to work on your sword skills, but all in all, you're well on your way to becoming a warrior that even Stain would be proud of…" Yuka paused, observing Spinner's eyes light up with joy.
"You mean it?"
"No," Yuka answered bluntly. "But you're definitely improving... Keep it up."
Spinner slumped discontentedly while Himiko snickered at Yuka's deception. She began to follow her offstage but halted when she noticed Dabi heading towards the backstage area as well. A sinister smile crept across her face as she began to quietly shadow the pair.
Yuka exited the stage, still pressing the bloody handkerchief to her face, berating herself for letting her guard down. She couldn't believe she had gotten distracted by Dabi of all things. The memory of what had happened earlier that day only fueled her irritation further. Suddenly, Dabi materialized backstage, casually leaning against the door frame leading out of the area. A slight chuckle escaped his lips upon seeing her with the bloody rag and he flashed her a smug expression.
"Well look who got their ass kicked by the lizard..."
Dabi's mocking tone grated on Yuka's nerves as she strode past him toward the door. She shot him a cold glance but didn't dignify his taunt with a response. Ignoring his taunts, she continued on her way toward one of the public bathrooms. Undeterred, Dabi trailed after her, his mocking tone persisting.
"Aww what's the matter, baby? Didn't peg you for the sore loser type..."
Yuka's irritation surged with each passing moment. Not only had she been humiliated in front of their colleagues, but Dabi was now openly mocking her on top of acting as if nothing had happened between them this morning. Still ignoring him, she slipped into the girls' bathroom to clean herself up. As she started running cold water from the tap, she noticed movement in her peripheral vision.
"Come onnn... You're not seriously mad at me, are you?" Dabi's voice echoed in the empty bathroom.
His intrusion into the women's bathroom hardly surprised her; his persistence was as predictable as ever. Not that it really mattered since the building was completely abandoned, but it somehow didn't surprise her that Dabi was the type to continue pestering her until she said something to him. Unfortunately for him, she remained silent, stewing over her recent defeat at the hands of her student, unwilling to engage with him in her current state of irritation.
Her silence had clearly made him uncomfortable since she noticed him pacing behind her while she quietly washed the blood off her face.
"Look sweetheart I-..." he began to speak after a few moments of uncomfortable silence. "I didn't intend for you to see me in the state I was this morning." He paused, nervously running his fingers through his freshly dyed hair. "I'm not used to people seeing... 'the real me', y'know? So come on, don't be mad at me, babe. It wasn't anything too serious..."
He moved in close to stroke her back while she finished cleaning her face. The moment she felt him touch her, she jerked around, slapping his hand away.
"You don't get to decide if I should be upset or not, Dabi," she replied coldly, her dark eyes staring directly into his eyes. "Especially not when you essentially kicked me out of your room like some kind of common whore!"
She fixed him with a ruthless stare, and Dabi couldn't bring himself to meet her gaze now that her anger was directed at him. He tried to play it cool and maintain a casual facade, but his body language betrayed the growing anxiety consuming him.
"Well if you're going to be such a bitch about it-..." he muttered to himself.
Yuka's eyes widened at his response, and without hesitation, grabbed him by the shirt and pushed him back against the wall, effectively silencing him. He stared at her in shock, his expression frozen in disbelief.
"Yes, I am being a bitch about this, Dabi," she answered aggressively. "Because you're trying to make me feel bad about what you did," she retorted, her voice laced with anger. "I'm not asking for an explanation about your behavior at the motel. What I am expecting though is that you set aside that fucking fragile ego of yours and apologize to me properly. Understand?!"
She maintained her piercing gaze, refusing to release him from her grip against the wall. Dabi tried to look away from her but wherever his eyes went, they inevitably went back to hers immediately after. After stubbornly keeping quiet for a moment, he finally surrendered with an exasperated sigh.
"Fine..." he growled. "I'm sorry I kicked you out of my room this morning..."
Yuka narrowed her eyes at his less than convincing tone, prompting her to push him forcefully against the wall once more.
"You're impossible..." she huffed, turning away to face the bathroom sink.
"Wait!" he shouted, reaching out instinctively to grab her wrist.
His grip was firm, anchoring her in place. Yuka froze as she heard him sigh behind her. She avoided turning to face him as he evidently wasn't taking her seriously.
"I'm sorry, okay?" he reiterated more earnestly this time. "I feel bad for kicking you out this morning. I know you must have felt shitty after that so please... Accept my apology. I'll even tell you why I freaked out if it'll convince you to forgive me..."
His words seemed a lot more genuine this time, prompting Yuka to reluctantly turn around to face him. She observed as his once smug demeanor dissolved into guilt. After letting him stew in his discomfort for a moment longer, she sighed heavily and approached him, taking his hand.
"That won't be necessary," she responded calmly. "We all have triggers from our past that can overwhelm us… Just promise me you won't do it again and I'll let it slide this time."
He raised her hand to his lips, softly brushing the back of it with his lips.
"Promise," he replied, pressing a kiss to her hand gently. "I won't let this happen again, I swear."
"Good," she exhaled, relieved. "I was worried we wouldn't have the chance to sort this out before Shigaraki split us up..."
"Speaking of Shigaraki..."
Himiko's voice rang out from one of the bathroom stalls, catching them off guard. Dabi nearly launched a fireball at her when she finally decided to poke her head over the stall door, giggling at their startled reaction.
"Got a death wish or something, psycho?" Dabi snapped at her. "Or do you have nothing better to do than to eavesdrop on people?"
"As a matter of fact, I don't," Toga replied confidently, her smile stretching from ear to ear. "But that might change soon..."
Dabi's voice dropped to a low growl. "What d'you mean?"
"Shiggy's back!" Toga announced gleefully. "Which means we'll be moving out soon!"
Yuka was relieved to hear that they were finally getting out of this godforsaken place. Toga hopped off the toilet she had been standing on, swinging the stall door open with a wide smile directed at the two of them still holding hands.
"Aww how cute!" she said to them, prompting Dabi and Yuka to let go of each other. "Anyways, bossman wants us to meet him in the main theater room with our stuff, so if I were you, I wouldn't keep him waiting. The quicker we can get out of this musty place, the better."
She then exited the girls' bathroom, skipping gleefully toward the main showing room where the rest of the League awaited their arrival. Yuka glanced back at Dabi, her cheeks still slightly flushed from the embarrassment of Toga walking in on them holding hands. After a moment of awkward silence, they both left to prepare for their departure and rendezvous with their leader.
Yuka hastily stuffed all of her new belongings into a large duffle bag not unlike the one she used to own. With her bag in tow, she returned to the main showing room and met up with Dabi on the way there. They maintained a careful distance from each while they were surrounded by their peers, but Toga's persistent grinning and staring was starting to draw the others' attention. Yuka glared at her from afar while no one was looking, prompting Himiko to avert her gaze while stifling giggles. Soon after, Shigaraki addressed the group once they had all reconvened in the theater room.
"Things have really quieted down on the outside," he announced to everyone. "This means that we can finally go our separate ways." He quietly stared at the group through his mask. "You're free to stay wherever you want, as long as it's discreet and that you don't attract any undue attention to yourselves. Plus, I'm expecting each and everyone of you to report back to me should you find any interesting candidates for the League of Villains."
"So we're splitting up to look for new recruits?" Yuka clarified.
"That's right. Use your previous contacts if you have any, but whatever you do, don't attract any attention from the police, the media or the pro hero agencies..."
Simple enough. Yuka was just relieved that she wouldn't have to spend anymore time squatting in dusty old buildings. While everyone was discussing where they wanted to go so that Kurogiri could open up a warp gate for them, she turned to look at Dabi. She wondered where he was planning to go, which got her thinking about where she would end up going. She hadn't thought about where she would end up once they were released. It wasn't like she had anywhere to go back to. Before she joined the League of Villains, she had been living in transient hotel rooms, constantly on the move to evade the police. As she pondered her next move, Dabi noticed her staring and turned to look at her, causing her to look away shyly. She felt her cheeks flush beneath her mask as Dabi chuckled softly at her reaction.
"You already know where you're heading off to, sweetheart?" he asked in an amused tone.
"I..." Yuka hesitated, realizing she still had no idea where to go. "I'm not sure... It's not like I have anywhere to go back to. I'll probably just ask Kurogiri to send me to one of the cities I've been to before and stay at a hotel or something..."
Dabi turned his gaze away from her. "I've got room at my place if you need a place to crash..."
Yuka jerked her head around in surprise. The last thing she had expected was an invitation from him to stay at his place. This made her blush even more and she quickly turned away when she felt the heat creeping up her cheeks once again.
"U-Ummmm..." she stammered, unsure how to respond. "I-I guess that could work."
"Just promise me you won't tell the others where I live," he added with a low chuckle. "I'd hate for them to show up uninvited."
He then approached Kurogiri, instructing him to open a portal to Musutafu, presumably where his apartment was located. Once he gave the location to Kurogiri, the tall, abyssal gentleman opened up a portal for them and Dabi gestured for her to step inside. Yuka nodded, casting a nervous glance towards her colleagues before entering. She couldn't help but wonder what they would think if they saw her entering the same portal as Dabi. Pushing aside her concerns, she passed through the portal and emerged in an alleyway on the other side where Dabi quickly joined up with her once he had gone through the portal himself.
"When you said 'your place', I didn't know you meant an alleyway..." Yuka quipped.
Dabi started to laugh, caught off-guard by her humor. "I didn't know you had a sense of humor, sweetheart."
Yuka smirked behind her mask, allowing Dabi to take the lead since he knew the way. She followed closely behind as he began walking toward one of the nearby apartment complexes. Glancing around, she scanned the vicinity for any signs of activity, but the streets remained quiet even at this hour. While it didn't seem like the safest area, she trusted that it wouldn't be an issue, particularly for someone like Dabi.
"We're here," he announced as they arrived in front of a large building. Guiding her into the apartment complex, he retrieved a set of keys from his pocket and unlocked the door to one of the units, ushering her inside. As Yuka stepped in, she was met with the familiar scent of nicotine and smoke, which didn't surprise her. She was fortunate that her lungs had been healed, or she probably would have started to cough from the smell alone.
The apartment was on the smaller side, but big enough for one or two occupants. The main area consisted of a joint living room and kitchen with a sizeable patio window leading to a small balcony. A small bathroom sat on one side, while a sliding door led to a surprisingly roomy bedroom on the other.
"Sorry about the dust," he apologized as they entered. "Haven't been here in ages."
The furnishings were minimal, lacking in decoration. It had all the essentials, but all in all, the apartment felt quite bare-bones overall.
"It's fine," she reassured him, unclasping her mask. "I've stayed in much lousier places. It'll be nice to have a stable place to crash at, more or less."
She could hear him chuckling behind her as he grew closer to her.
"Already thinking of settling in for the long haul, sweetheart?" he teased.
Turning to him, she wore a surprised expression on her face.
"I... uh... That's not what I-" she stammered, trying to find her words.
Dabi closed the distance between them, smirking at her embarrassed reaction as he slid his hands around her waist.
"Relax, baby... I'm just messing with you," he replid in a low, gravelly voice.
Yuka felt her cheeks burning with embarrassment. She tried to hide her face from him, but without her mask, it was painfully obvious just how embarrassed she was, which seemed to only amuse him further.
"Of course!" she blurted out. "I-I was just, um, making sure you didn't think I was trying to—"
She let out a surprised gasp mid-sentence as Dabi's lips pressed against hers. Wide-eyed, she initially froze, then gradually relaxed into his embrace. Despite their newfound privacy, she felt an unexpected surge of anxiety. She figured once they would be alone, she wouldn't have to worry about the others walking in on them, but somehow, she felt even more anxious now that they were completely alone together. It puzzled her; she'd been in similar situations before, even with Dabi himself. Plus, she'd shared a bed with him multiple times, so why was she so nervous around him all of a sudden?
Unable to pinpoint the cause, she dismissed her concern, and instead tried focusing on the feeling of his lips pressed against hers. As she slowly surrendered to the moment, she wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him closer. After a few more seconds of deep, passionate kissing, she felt him pull away suddenly, leaving her slightly stunned and breathless. With a sly smirk, he sauntered to the other side of the room, sliding open the balcony door and retrieving a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.
"Make yourself at home," he offered in a casual tone. "I usually don't like having company around, but I've got a feeling having you around won't be so bad..."
Another chuckle escaped his lips as he pulled out a cigarette, igniting it with practiced ease in between his fingers. Yuka's cheeks flushed once more, understanding the implication behind his words. Deep down, she couldn't deny a similar sentiment; being alone with him wasn't unwelcome. Despite the uncertainties ahead, she sensed that their time together would be anything but dull…