Mirio looked down at the mask in his hands with a feeling of unease. The black leather wasn't his style at all, nor were the silver studs running along the curved beak at the front of the headgear. Above the long nose was a pair of opaque blue lenses not too far removed from Mirio's eyes, affixed to a hooded cowl meant to obscure the wearer's entire head and neck. Though he had been told that the mask would be a temporary solution for concealing his identity, Mirio had a feeling that somehow, from the moment he pulled it on, there would be a permanent change. What he didn't know was just how much change it would bring, or whether he would be ready to truly accept it.

"Pff. Overhaul give you that?"

Mirio jumped, nearly dropping the mask to the carpeted floor of the small room as the sudden voice broke him out of his reverie. He looked over to the doorframe to find Dabi leaning against one side of it, the cigarette in his left hand trailing wispy smoke up toward the ceiling. He wore a long black coat of tattered material over his usual white shirt. The back section of the dark covering was split into three tails, held together by fraying strands of fabric.

"He did," Mirio confirmed with a nod and what he hoped registered as a friendly smile. "Dabi, right?"

"That's me," the other man answered as he pushed off the frame and pulled the door closed behind himself. "Heard you're going by 'Zero' these days. That's cute. The opposite of 'Lemillion,' or whatever. At least you didn't go for 'Lezero', or people would have you figured out immediately."

"Yeah. That's why I didn't," Mirio said awkwardly as he watched Dabi swagger toward the moss green leather couch and sink down into the cushions while crossing his legs.

Something about the Dabi's eyes was wildly different from when Mirio had first met him- he somehow seemed more relaxed and lucid as he took a slow drag from his cigarette. Dabi inhaled, causing the end of the small tube to glow a faint orange. Instead of blowing out the smoke through his lips or nose, the wide, unhealed slits holding the burned flesh to the untouched skin on either side of his mouth opened slightly, allowing fumes to seep out between the staples holding them together. The unnatural act gave him the appearance of a contemplative dragon, and Mirio couldn't help but feel as though he might be about to become prey as Dabi narrowed his eyes.

"…any particular reason you're in this room?" Dabi asked as he began to idly bounce his foot.

"I just chose a room to try this on away from prying eyes," Mirio explained as he spared a glance at his surroundings. "The underground here is like a labyrinth, and the door was open, so… I just wandered in. I honestly have no idea where I am right now."

The room itself was a far cry from the lavish ones Mirio had seen in his few trips to the Shie Hassaikai underground. Walls of mauve and a white ceiling surrounded him, and the space was totally undecorated. Other than an open closet with mostly empty hangers, a black mini-fridge, and the couch that Dabi had chosen to sit upon, there was only an unmade bed with deep blue sheets and an accompanying wooden nightstand. Atop the mattress was a bong that had obviously seen heavy use, along with a tarnished lighter. A magazine with a topless, well-endowed blonde woman upon the cover rested upon the nightstand, and Mirio quickly looked away from it with a nervous chuckle.

"Funny," Dabi said with a shrug. "You stumbled into my room."

Mirio's face drained of color at the revelation, and he kneaded the mask in his hands as he shuffled toward the door.

"Oh! My bad! I can go, if y-"

"Nah," Dabi interrupted with a wave of his free hand. "Stay a while. Let's chat. After all, you were nice enough to bring me a gift, when you didn't even know me. Overhaul's idea?"

Mirio drew in a breath through his nose, feeling rather trapped. The fact that Dabi seemed fixated upon a particular point on the opposite wall rather than him disturbed him a little, as did the smoke trailing from Dabi's cheeks.

"…yeah," Mirio admitted. "I thought he would know what's best, being my initial contact and all."

"Not sayin' I didn't appreciate it," Dabi began as he finally rolled his eyes over toward Mirio. "But I am interested in hearing what else he might have told you about me when he made that little suggestion."

"Not… much," Mirio said as he wracked his brain for any details from his first contact with Dabi. "Just that you don't like it when people get 'too friendly' with Dreamgirl while she's 'on the job.' I'm not sure what that means, but I'm guessing he meant when she's out on assignment for the Shie Hassaikai…?"

Dabi let out a raspy laugh, his grin seeming to almost occupy the majority of his face in an expression that struck Mirio as more crazed than amused.

"As if this is any sort of meaningful job. That's not what he meant. Not even close," Dabi replied as he stood up from the couch into a stretch. "Riz runs a strip joint in the red light district. Sometimes, people don't follow the very simple rule of 'you can look, but don't touch.' If I happen to see or hear about that happening… I make sure they never get the chance again, whether it's Riz herself, or one of her girls."

"That's… understandable," Mirio admitted as he moved back toward the center of the room. He watched as Dabi knelt before the minifridge and extinguished his cigarette in the small ash tray resting atop it. "So, Dreamgirl is… a stripper? And a member of the Shie Hassaikai?"

"Is that a problem?" Dabi asked, facing away as he rummaged through the fridge. "Wondering how I feel about her flashing her tits on stage?"

"No!" Mirio said quickly. "No, no, of course not. I just… don't really understand how things work, here. I wasn't aware that some of you held two jobs…"

"That's pretty clear," Dabi pointed out as he rose back to a standing position and tossed Mirio a chilled bottle. After cracking his neck, Dabi took the cap of his bottle in his teeth and cracked it open effortlessly. "You really are the ideal innocent hero-type, huh? You've never even been to a strip club, have you?"

Mirio furrowed his brows, keenly aware of the flustered blush upon his cheeks as he stared down at the cap of his bottle.

"…nope! Not really… something I got around to, I guess?" Mirio considered. "Nothing wrong with strip clubs, or visiting one…"

"Not very heroic though, is it?" Dabi taunted before taking a swig of his beer and inclining his head toward Mirio. "Go on. Don't be a pussy."

Mirio hesitated a moment more before placing the top of the bottle into his mouth and biting down. His teeth scraped against the ridged metallic edging of the cap, and he wrenched hard to pop the top off in one go. The topper almost ended up in his mouth, but instead tumbled down to the floor as he made a frantic effort to catch it. Upon fumbling the cap entirely, a small spout of beer flew from the top of the bottle and fell down into the carpet.

"Crap!" Mirio exclaimed as he drew in a breath with a hiss. "I'll… find a way to get it out…"

"Leave it," Dabi commanded, sounding almost bored.

Mirio blinked in confusion and looked up, only to find Dabi staring down at him with an unreadable expression.

"But…"

"You think I honestly give a fuck about this place?" Dabi asked, only to take another sip from his bottle. "Whole thing's a shithole. I usually sleep at Riz's club, with her. This is just where the Yaks put me up because they have to. Beer in the carpet isn't the worst stain you'll find in this room, if you go looking."

Mirio slowly rose, feeling more and more uncomfortable as he tried to get a read on Dabi. Once again, he came up with nothing.

"What do you mean 'because they have to?'"

"You ask a lot of questions," Dabi replied with a roll of his eyes. "It's getting annoying."

"I'm asking because I want to understand you better," Mirio asserted. "I'm sorry if you're annoyed, but I don't understand anything I've seen here, so far. Overhaul told me that the Shie Hassaikai are a family, more than an organization. He also told me that not everyone agrees with that notion or sees things the same way. I want to hear what you really think, and from others, too, before I decide how I feel. So far, everyone I've met here seems to be so different that I can't see how any of this works out."

"That's because it doesn't," Dabi said, his voice dropping to almost a hiss. "The Shie Hassaikai is a fucked up little band of misfits with delusions of grandeur and a whole medical textbook's worth of personality disorders. They're all naïve, stupid, shortsighted assholes with a tendency to talk a big game while accomplishing nothing… but they pay good. Real good. That's why I'm here. Riz's family is involved, and I know how to put the pressure on people that these Yaks want to extort. They hate me, I hate them, and it's a beautiful, profitable little relationship that goes on and on for as long as I'm fucking the daughter of one of the higher-ups. Her family likes me, so the other families here won't touch me, no matter what I say or do. I don't give a shit about the Shie Hassaikai, and I know you don't, either."

Mirio made a concentrated effort not to blink and keep his breathing totally normal as Dabi narrowed his eyes and stared through him. He finally took a swig of his beer to calm his nerves and offered Dabi a shrug.

"What gives you that idea?" Mirio asked as he raised a brow. "I've got every reason to be here. My career as a hero is pretty much gone, after what Sir Nighteye did to me. Most of my former friends at U.A. don't even talk to me anymore, ever since the incident. There's nothing for me out there among heroes. I heard that the Shie Hassaikai was as close to a feeling of belonging as I could possibly get, and I chose to follow that lead."

"Heard from who?" Dabi pressed.

Mirio mentally cursed at himself, very much feeling as though the temperate in the room was rising the closer Dabi moved toward him.

"…classes," Mirio lied. "We learned about the Hassaikai, the Nue, and Yakuza families that aren't around anymore. The way this group was described sounded like what I need right now, and I extrapolated from there."

Dabi nodded slowly several times, gnawing at his lower lip as he sized Mirio up.

"…bullshit. You've gotta work on lying, Togata. I can teach you a thing or two," Dabi offered before downing the rest of his beer. He stood close enough to Mirio that they were almost touching, a knowing smirk upon his features. "You're lucky. Like I already told you- I don't give a damn what happens to this place. Warehouse could burn down tomorrow and the underground could get raided by the men in tights that Japan thinks can save it from it's own idiocy, for all I care. You're a clueless, innocent little fish out of water… but you're one hell of an interesting fish, pulling this kind of shit. Interesting enough to keep around."

"Dabi, I swear to you," Mirio insisted as he shook his head emphatically. "I'm not lying. I'm here to find out if this is the right place for me."

"And you think they'll just let you walk if it isn't?" Dabi asked. "Really?"

Mirio rubbed at the back of his neck, and then chugged the rest of his beer.

"…I don't know. But this is better than having no plan. Seeing life from the other side is better than pretending I fit in with a 'family' of heroes who hung me out to dry on my own when I didn't measure up to exactly what they wanted."

Dabi's expression suddenly grew cold. Cold enough that Mirio took a step back, feeling very much like he might need to be ready to defend himself. There was a long, tense silence in which Dabi didn't even blink, before he turned and placed his empty bottle atop the minifridge.

"…if you're looking for a family," Dabi spat, still facing away, "then you're wasting your time. Families bring nothing but disappointment and impossible expectations. Live for yourself and find something actually worth doing, if you want my advice. You could still get out now and end this little charade, but the window's closing. I've got an errand to run for these idiots before sundown. Do what you want, but don't feed me any more bullshit. I don't have time for it."

Mirio watched as Dabi turned and made his way straight to the door. As the charred man put his discolored hand upon the knob, Mirio took a deep breath and moved to set his own bottle atop the fridge next to Dabi's.

"I'll come with you."

"…what?" Dabi asked, turning around with his hand still on the doorknob.

"I'll come with you," Mirio repeated. "I won't take any of the payout or anything, just… I need to learn the ropes. See what kind of jobs you run and learn how best to help out. Besides, I can keep you company. Even if you think I'm… bullshitting you… I want to get to know you better. I wasn't lying about that, either. You're an interesting guy, too."

Dabi simply stared, looking unsure what to make of Mirio as the other man moved to stand at his side.

"…whatever game you're playing, you're fucked in the head," Dabi accused as he shook his own. "But I kinda like it. For now. Let's go, Togata. I'm already behind schedule."

Author's Note:

Best. Friends. Forever!

-RD