Dabi’s Burnt Flesh

Dabi moved some stray strands of hair away from your face. Despite the bruises, you still kept your beauty in his eyes. You've looked past his scars, why shouldn't he do the same for you? He smiled softly before closing the gap between you both and met his lips with your own. You sighed shakily into the kiss, eyes fluttering shut. If you could, you'd stay in the moment with him forever. Just enjoying him, his soft touches, his love. And that's what it was, Dabi loved you. He's always loved you, even back then, and you were just too blind at the time to see it. But it's so clear to you now. It was clear that night you two spend together. When the two of you separated from the kiss, you spoke with a soft and whispered breath. "I love you Toya." You lean forwards to kiss him again, this one shorter however. "I love you so much." Your voice started to tremble. "And I can't thank you enough for everything you've done." Dabi's hand found its way to your own. "You don't have to thank me." He tells you. "I'm just glad you're ok."

"I was so stupid. I should have never trusted him." You sniffle. "That day, I should have just ignored him. I let him sweet talk me into thinking he was actually good. That he actually cared about me. None of this would have happened if I had just..." You trailed off. Your heart felt heavy, deep regret setting in as everything had come crashing down on you all at once. All those years, you were used and abused over and over, not just from Ryuji, but from the many others you were forced to sleep with. All that pain. All that time wasted. All because you decided to trust Ryuji. He has reduced you into...this. A broken shell of what you once were. The life you had, that light, the spark within you, destroyed into near nothingness. At one point, you were sure it had been. That there was nothing left for you in the end. Because in life, all you were good for was using your body to please others. You contributed nothing to the world around you. You did things you are not proud of. And one day, when you die, there would be no one to mourn you. You would not be missed. You were just another unfortunate soul, who was swept up into a tragic way of life. No friends, no family. Alone, with the choices you made, willingly or not.

All had seemed hopeless. And there were nights where you considered taking your own life, just to end the cycle of pain. But that was all before Toya had entered your life once more.

Even as he is now, he continues to light up your broken world. He made you feel as if you were still new, still that same innocent girl from before. Though he was a villain, he would forever be your hero. Whether he wants to acknowledge it or not. Had life just turned out a little differently, you didn't doubt for a second that he could have done for others what he's done for you. But no one can predict the way life works, it can be cruel and unfair, and some things will happen that are out of anyone's control. Maybe he could have done some things a little differently, maybe you could have too. But who's to say if things would have been any better for either of you? What did matter right now, is that you both had each other again. And as long as you both would live, there would be nothing or no one that would ever get in the way of that again. Life is unpredictable, yet so precious. All the more reason to never separate again.

"He manipulated you. He saw a pretty girl down on her luck and tricked you into thinking he wanted to help you." Dabi tells you. "I should have been there." His expression fell into one of anger and frustration. Not towards anyone but himself. "If I had just been there for you, you wouldn't have ended up in that situation in the first place. That fucker would have never got to you, and you would have been spared all his bullshit." You gripped onto Dabi's hand slightly. "I don't blame you." You tell him. "But I do wish you would have came to me when all that shit happened to you. I would have done anything to try and help you out of that mess." Dabi sighed, his head fell onto your shoulder. "I didn't want you involved. Besides, I was too far gone. You would have just gotten hurt." You wanted to argue, but Dabi continued. "You shouldn't worry about me. It's my old man you should be worrying about. He's gonna regret ever having brought me into this world when I get my hands on him...All in time." Dabi smirked. "For though." He looks down at you. "You're my main priority. As long as I breathe, you will never live in fear or suffering again. I'll make sure of it." Well, he's already made sure of it. He decided not to think about it right now, he just wanted to enjoy you until morning came.

Suddenly the sound of breaking glass caught your attention. You gasped sharply and lift your head to look around. Your eyes landed on a near by window in the bedroom. Your narrows your eyes for a moment before widening them as you saw who was climbing through the window. "You look like you're in a bind." They landed on their feet as they found their way in. "Need a hand?"

"Toga?" You mutter. "What are you doing here? How did you find this place?" You ask her, as she walks over to you. "I did a little snooping around." Toga says with a shrug. "Dabi was acting really weird tonight. He seemed a bit frazzled so, I trailed him to see what was happening. I had a feeling it had something to do with you, and it turns out I was right." She says with a smirk. She then pulls out a knife and starts cutting at the ropes tying your body down to the chair. "Why are you doing this?" You ask, very confused by her actions. She only shrugs. "Dabi seems to really like you." She removes the rope around your body. "Clearly you two have history. And besides that, Dabi's my friend so, if he thinks you're worth saving, then I'm with him." You were surprised by her words. But you didn't question it as you stood from the chair on weak legs. You leaned on a near by wall, trying to find your bearings. Toga looks at the closed door of the bedroom. "Dabi's out there fighting that guy all by himself. I should go and help him." She says as she takes a step towards the door. "Wait." You say, stopping her. "Ryuji's quirk is very dangerous. You have to be careful or he'll kill you." You warn her. Toga gives you a blank look. "My quirk's pretty dangerous too. So is Dabi's."

"Yes but. If he uses it on you, you'll be rendered useless." You say before beginning to explain. "His quirk is called blood manipulation. If he can control your blood, he can control you're whole body. And all it would take for him to do that, is just one small cut. So long as blood has been drawn from you, his quirk will activate. And there is no getting out of it." You tell her. Toga hums. "I see." She places a finger to her chin as she thinks. Then a sinister grin graces her features. "You know, this whole talk of blood has given me an idea." Toga steps over to you. You were confused, but you were willing to hear her out if it meant Dabi would be safe. So, you nod your head. "Alright. Let's hear it."

"How the hell did you get out of those ropes?" Ryuji asks you before his eyes fall onto the knife you held. "And where did you get that?" You said nothing, only gripping the knife tighter. Ryuji's spur expression turned into one of amusement. "What? You gonna stab me?" He asks with a chuckle. Ryuji walks closer to you, your hands began to shake slightly. "You've got some nerve, pointing that thing at me." He says lowly. "You just keeping getting more and more stupid. I was I not thorough enough earlier?" He was only inches away from you now, the end of the knife just barely touching his abdomen. He smirks as he continues to speak. "I don't think you can do it. Not everything I've given you. I housed you, fed you, gave your life new meaning. If it weren't for me, you'd be dead a long time ago. Knowing all that? You wouldn't dare do it." You tried to keep your expression cold and uncaring, but your trembling hands gave you away. "I know I've been tough on you. But I only do it because I care about you. And believe me, I could be way worse. And there is defiantly worse people out there than me. You should consider yourself lucky to have ended up with me." Ryuji glances back at Dabi. If looks could kill, Ryuji would be a dead man. "And as for him? He won't be any better. He can't give you what you want. He's a villain after all. He wouldn't be able to give you that perfect story book ending. Where you fall in love, and start a big happy family. He can't take care of you. And you know it." He looks back to you. Your head hung low, knife lowering slightly. "So why bother? Why not stick to what you know? What you're use to? At least with me, you have a roof over your head. And money for food and clothes. You'd never have to work a boring desk job for that stuff. It's all a gift to you, sweet thing."

You went silent, Ryuji's grin growing wider. "I'm glad you understand. Now how about you put that knife away." You nod. Then suddenly, a small giggle left your lips, which turned into a full on laughing fit. Ryuji didn't have time to process what was happening, before the knife was plunged deep into his stomach. "Mind if I leave it there?" You ask smugly, a wicked grin plastered on your face. Even Dabi was confused, it was short lived however, when he felt feeling back in his arms. He wasted no time, as he sent a way of fire towards Ryuji. You moved out of the way just as the fire engulfed his body. Dabi brought himself to a stand before calling your name. His eyes widened for a second as he watched your figure melt and change. His shock died down as he realized just what was happening. "I know you said not for me to get involved." Toga places a hand on her hip. "But I can't let you have all the fun."

"Toga." Dabi sighs. He couldn't be annoyed, he was thankful for her help. He asked for where you were. Just as he did, you walked out from the bedroom. You glanced down at Ryuji's body. The flames were dying down, he was still alive, telling from his groans of agony. As soon as Ryuji saw you, he let out a strangled yell of anger as he reached for you. Dabi stomped down on his back roughly to keep him down. "Toga. Take her back to my place, I'll meet up with you later." Toga nods and leads you out of the house, leaving just Ryuji and Dabi alone. You gave one last look to Dabi. You silently prayed that he would come back from this alive, before leaving with Toga. "What did I tell you asshole?" Dabi mutters, digging his foot harder into his back. "I told you I was gonna kill you. But I think I might fuck you up a little first." More fire erupted from Ryuji's body, he let out more wails. Dabi smiled at his pain, and he was just getting started. He extinguished the flames before it could do too much damage. He didn't want Ryuji dead just yet.

"You picked the wrong woman motherfucker." Dabi moves his foot away, only to stomp it down onto Ryuji's head. "And you picked the wrong person to piss off." Dabi crouched down, and grabbed Ryuji by the hair, jerking his head upward. Dabi then pressed his thumb slightly below Ryuji's right eye, slowly heating it up. "How many black eyes did you give her?" Dabi asks lowly before dragging his thumb up and pressing it against Ryuji's eye. Dabi delighted in his screams. He left his thumb there for a few more seconds before pulling it away. He moved his hand down to Ryuji's mouth. "How many times did your filthy mouth touch her?" Dabi forces his hand inside Ryuji's mouth and grabbed his tongue, he wailed as his tongue heated up to a near scorching degree. Dabi made sure to give his lips the same treatment. Dabi then grabbed his neck, burning his handprint into his throat. "God, choking the life out of you sounds so damn tempting." He says as he squeezes harder, adding more heat to his touch. The more Dabi looked at Ryuji, the more angry he became. He drew his free hand back and punched him hard across the face. "You hit her like this too, didn't you?" He asked before punching him again. "I bet you didn't let up when she begged and cried for you to stop." Another punch. "Did you enjoy hearing her screams?" Another. "Did you enjoy seeing her cry?" Another. And another. More and more until sharp crunching could be heard. Ryuji's face was bloodied and broken, near deformed at this point. Dabi squeezed harder at his throat, more heat coursing through his palm.

"Fuck!" Dabi hissed. He took out his phone and dialed your number one more time, it was ultimately pointless. If you didn't answer before, why would you now? Especially if that fucker had gotten ahold of you. His head snapped in the direction of the bed as he heard your phone ringing. He hung up and walked to the bed and picked it up, unlocking it and noticing a video waiting to be played. His grip on the phone tightened as he saw your bruised face in the still paused frame of the video. He finally pressed play, and watched in horror as the video started. The camera has panned to your beaten form on the ground, your weak sobs only overshadowed by Ryuji's voice. "Come on, look at the camera girl. Im sure your villain boyfriend will want to know you're still alive. For now at least." When you didn't listen, Ryuji sighed and crouched down and grabbed you by the hair, forcing you to look into the camera. The sight of your beaten face and wet cheeks had made Dabi sick to his stomach. "See? She's still kicking!" Ryuji chuckled. "Too bad I had to punish her for mouthing off to me earlier. Otherwise, she would have looked a little more presentable for you" Ryuji moved the camera to his face. "Sure was smart of me to put a tracker in that phone of her's huh?" He laughs. "You wouldn't believe it, the shit she was saying. She really thinks your some sort of hero, a knight and shinning armor that will come to her rescue. Even you can admit how stupid that is. Then she goes on about you killing me, that I'll be a bad memory to her. Ha." Ryuji glanced at you as he talked. "You should know better than that...You belong to me you dumb bitch!" The camera shakes, making the video blur for a moment before Dabi heard a harsh thump followed by your cries of pain.

Dabi could have melted this phone, his anger only growing the more he watched. The more he heard you cry. The more he heard that bastards voice. Ryuji sighed before pinching the bridge of his nose. "As sweet as she is, she can be quite the pain in the ass. Anyway." Ryuji grins as he talks. "Im looking forwards to our meeting. I'd love to talk to you in person. So how about you meet me at my place and we can get to acquainted better. You can find my location in her phone. Oh and, don't try to bring your buddies for backup. You come alone, or I'll fucking gut this bitch. And I won't wait all night. Remember..." Ryuji moves the camera on you for one last time. "Your damsel is waiting. Don't let her down." And with that, the video ended.

Dabi had never felt such rage. Such hatred. He thought he could never feel anything stronger than this than what he has in the past, but that all paled in comparison to what was happening now. Dabi checked the location before swiftly leaving the hotel. He wouldn't have brought along any of the league even if he wanted to. Ryuji was his to kill. He wasn't intending on letting anyone in on this. This had became personal from the moment he reunited with you. However, he did make one phone call before he arrived at Ryuji's home.

"It's me...Make sure everything's in order. She'll be ready to go in the morning."

Meanwhile, you were tied up on a chair in Ryuji's bedroom. Your head hung low, blood dripping from your nose onto your lap. Your body ached, strained muscles screaming in agony, you could feel the bruises forming on your skin. Ryuji had been relentless, he didn't let up for second as he beat and broken you. Any ease you felt before this had been erased entirely. You were now left feeling weak and helpless once more, at the complete mercy of the monster before you. You were stupid. So very stupid. Of course this would happen. Why the hell did you ever think anything would change? At the end of it all, you would always end up right back into Ryuji's grasp. No matter how far you ran, no matter where you go, he would always find you and drag you back, kicking and screaming. And you were a fool to think otherwise. Dabi might come to save you, but even if he does, you won't truly be free. Even if he kills Ryuji, you will still be his. The marks on your body would be a constant reminder, of how he claimed you, owned you.

And there was nothing you or anyone could do to change that.

Ryuji stepped in front of you. You heard him speak, but could not find the strength to raise your head to face him. So you just listened. "You could have had everything. I would have given you everything. Why did you have to go and do that?" He spoke with the facade of gentleness. "You know that you have always been my favorite girl. You mean so much more than those other women. You think I would do this to just any of those whores? No. You are special, you always have been. Which is why is pains me deeply, to know that you are no different from them. Im not willing to let you go just yet. I can forgive you in time, as I always have. But you'll have to earn my trust again, otherwise, you'll be nothing but dead weight on my shoulders." Ryuji crouched down in front of you, he could get a better view of your face this way. "I hate to ruin that pretty face of yours. If this keeps up, no one's gonna want you. Not even the most desperate of people. So be better won't you?"

You nod slowly. Ryuji began to speak once again, but stopped once he heard a loud bang. He smirked and rose to his feet. "Looks like my guest has finally arrived. I'll be back once I've settled this little scrap." He says before leaving you alone in the room. You knew Dabi was here, but you did nothing. Said nothing. You kept your gaze locked onto your lap, and just...waited. For what, you didn't know. But you waited...for something. Anything. You waited.

And then it began.

Ryuji walked out into the living room, he was greeted by Dabi stepping over the door he broke down. The door laid on the ground, blue flames dancing on the now burned edges of the door. "You know how expensive this house is? Hope you have a way planned to repay me." He smirks. Dabi said nothing as he stopped just before Ryuji, he had nothing to say to him. Nothing, other than-

"Where is she?"

Ryuji nods his head back towards his bedroom. "She's still alive, if you're wondering." That's all Dabi needed to hear before moving his hand up, flames engulfing it as his stare intensified onto Ryuji. As much as he wanted to kill him, he couldn't go back on his word. Dabi would make his death all but quick. Ryuji would know a whole new meaning of pain by the end of the night. And once he's gone, he would get you out of here. He would make sure you never got hurt again. Or he would die trying. Ryuji shook his head. "All this over some woman. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you love her." Ryuji locked his eyes on Dabi's. "Don't tell big bad Dabi has grown soft. If that's the case, then this will be very boring." Dabi narrowed his eyes before jerking his arm back. For once this dickhead was right. He did love you. He was more than willing to put his life on the line for you if it meant you'd be alright in the end. And god damn it.

Dabi sent a blast of flames towards Ryuji.

You will be alright.

Ryuji dodged it, the same shit eating grin on his face as he did so. "You'll need to do a lot worse than that!" He took a pocket knife he had hidden and clutched it tightly. "You're about to see something real exciting." Ryuji chuckles lowly. He rushes Dabi, narrowly avoiding another wave of flames. When he was close enough, he took that pocket knife and slashed at Dabi. He wasn't aiming to actually stab him, but to cut him. And unfortunately, he had managed to make a small slice on Dabi's forearm. Dabi quickly moved his other hand sent more fire his way. This time Ryuji would not dodge in time. The left side of his upper body caught fire. Ryuji acted quickly and removed his shirt to get rid of the flames. He ignored the pain from the fresh burns he had received on his arm and partially on his chest and abdomen. "That's gonna leave a nasty scar." Ryuji smirks. "But I say it's well worth it, after I managed to land a hit on you like I did." Dabi wasn't oblivious. He knew that, even if just a scratch, could result in his downfall.

"Shit!" Dabi hissed sharply. Ryuji laughed before flicking his finger upward. With that singular motion, Dabi's arm, the one that was cut, involuntarily jerked up in the air. Dabi grunts in pain. It felt as if his arm was being harshly twisted, his muscles cramping up. He could barely summon any fire with that hand, so he switched to his left. "Not so fast." Ryuji says before waving his hand and quickly bringing it upward. Dabi's other arm was forced back down, the same cramping feeling in the limb as the other. Dabi was then forced down onto his knees with the flick of Ryuji's wrist. Dabi's arms painfully brought down to his sides, he glared up at Ryuji as he stepped closer to him. "You really are a let down you know that?" Ryuji sighs. "I really expected more out of you. Turns out, you're just some wanna be bad guy. All bark and no bite. What happened to that whole, "I'm gonna kill you" attitude?" He asks smugly. "You're holding me down." Dabi began. "You too much of a bitch to let me up and fight you fairly? Afraid you'll loose?" Ryuji scowls before delivering a harsh blow to Dabi's face. "You know I'm right." Dabi says, barely acknowledging the punch. Blood dribbled down his nose, a throbbing sensation in his cheek. But he paid it no mind as he spoke. "Your quirk is good for one thing, keeping people still so you can do whatever you want. If you were as bad as everyone thinks you are, you'd let me up and fight me like a real man."

"See Dabi, I don't have to do any of that." Ryuji says, he grabbed Dabi by the hair and jerked his face close to his. He took the knife he had and held it up to his neck. "I tend not to get my hands dirty if I don't have to. I save that kind of thing for people who are actually worth the effort. And you, are not worth it. Killing you wont bring me any sort of satisfaction, as much as bring me some sort of peace of mind. Peace of mind, knowing that one less annoyance is in my life. It's like finally doing a chore that you've been putting off for days. It's still a pain that you have to do it, but it's good to know it's not around anymore to be a constant reminder. It's stressful, and I can't have any sort of stress in my life." He presses the blade of the knife ever so slightly into Dabi's neck. "I get enough of it from that bitch that cares so much about you. If she wasn't so pretty, I would have killed her ages ago. You know what I mean. You've had her to yourself for a while. She's good at what she does, isn't she?" Ryuji grins. Dabi gave him a disgusted look. "You're a fucking asshole." He spat. "You don't deserve someone like her. The fact that you even thought to put your filthy hands on her, is enough for me to burn you from the inside out."

"Oh I'm sure." Ryuji rolls his eyes. "Why the fuck do you even bother? There's plenty of sluts just like her out there. What makes her so god damn special?" He asks. "You wouldn't understand even if I did feel like explaining it to you shit stain." Dabi mutters. Ryuji clicks his tongue, pressing the knife even further. "God I'm not gonna miss your ugly ass face." Just as the knife started to draw blood, a voice forced Ryuji to pause his actions.

"Ryuji stop!"

You turned on the tv and watched a movie, it wasn't very good but, you needed something to distract you right now. Keep your mind of the potential bad outcomes from everything that's happened so far. You wanted to think about literally anything else other than the "what if's". You had faith in Dabi, he was strong, he could take care of himself. You didn't doubt that for a moment. But Ryuji played dirty, he'd do just about anything if it meant he came out on top. That's what worried you. He didn't care who got hurt or killed in the process. Ryuji was an unfair man, if there was a way he could cheat his way out of a tough situation, a way to assure his victory, he would find it. It was because of that, you made sure to leave Dabi with a warning before he left.

"Ryuji has a powerful quirk. Why he doesn't show it off is beyond me, given the type of person he is. Though, I have the suspicion that it's because his quirk is so strong, that he hides it until he needs to use it. To catch people off guard. I've only ever seen him use it once, and once was plenty enough times for me. Please be careful."

You hug a pillow close to you, your stomach fluttering with anxiety. Your chest felt tight. You sighed shakily before moving your head back against the headboard. You closed your eyes, the sound of the tv slowly turned muffled and inaudible. Your mind began to wonder, and before you knew it, the world around you went away.

"You know what you wanna do once you graduate?" You turn your head to face your best friend. He kept his gaze locked ahead at the setting sun in the distance. The soft wind blew against the two of you, and gently swayed the blades grass of bank you sat on. You and him would come here every once and a while after school to relax and talk. Normally, topics like school wouldn't be mentioned, as it wasn't a very relaxing thing to talk about. But you answered his question anyway. "I'm not entirely sure yet." You start. "I want to get into a good collage first. Maybe I can figure it out once I get to that point." Your friend knew about your parent's business, he was the only one who did. You trusted him enough to know he wouldn't go telling everyone. "What about you Toya?" You asked him. Toya leaned back on his hands, looking up at the soft warm colors of the evening sky. "No idea." He muttered. Once he did know, but after everything that's happened so far...his dream was not likely to come true. His future was pretty much over.

You held your tongue about hero stuff. He made it clear as of recently that he didn't want to talk about that kind of thing. You were a little confused admittedly. He had the potential to be a great hero. But you could understand how stressful that could be. Hero work was no joke. You'd constantly have the people's eye on you twenty four-seven. Not to mention having to save lives on a daily basis. "Well." You shrug. "We'll figure it out together then." You say with a smile, turning your attention to the sunset. "We got more than enough time." Toya looked over at you, he couldn't help but smile as well. "Who cares if we don't." Toya chuckles. "As long as we got each other, we'll be set for life." You would have scolded him about being so uncaring about his future. But you just kept that smile on your face. He was right. You two would be fine as long as you stuck by each other's side. You two looked after each other.

And that's how it would always be. Nothing could ever come in between that, so long as that was true.

A knocking sound sent you back into reality. You sat up straight, rubbing your tired eyes. Looking out of the window, you noticed that it was dark outside. You look over at the clock on the nightstand. It was near midnight. You had fallen asleep for quite a while, you would have been upset, had you not felt great after waking up. It was the most you've slept in a while, not to mention you had the nicest dream too. More knocking forced your attention to the room's door. Before you got out of bed to answer, you looked at your phone. You had missed a few calls from Dabi. "Shit." You mutter. He must have gotten worried about you and came back early. You hurried out of the bed and towards the door. You opened it, and the air was forced from your lungs upon seeing just who was on the other side of the door.

"Heya sweet thing."

"Ryuji..." Your words came out in a breathless whisper. You couldn't get a deep breath, your legs felt like jello, and your body frozen. You couldn't even manage a scream. The world around you had came crashing down on your head, it was all so much at once. You were caught. Absolutely and utterly fucked. Your grip on the door handle tightened, you swore you would have broken it off the door completely. What could you do now? A foolish question. There was nothing you could do. Not then, not now, not ever. So, you just stood there as Ryuji walked passed you and into the room without another word. "Shut the door." He flinched at his voice. You stared out into the hallway, there was no one there. But maybe...maybe if you yelled loud enough you could-

"Shut. The. Door." Ryuji spoke again, this time more demanding. Your mind screamed at you to call for help, run away, do something. And yet. Your body acted against your mind, as you closed the door. You didn't dare turn to face him. You just listened as he talked. "What did I tell ya?" You could hear the sounds of his footsteps as he made his way around the room. "Im nothing if not a man of my word." His footsteps stopped briefly. "And yet so many tend to forget that. Even you it seems. You looked so shocked when you answered that door." He resumed walking, this time, growing closer to you. "Did you really think I'd let you go so easily? After everything I've done for you? After everything we've been through? Did you really think for a second, you could ever leave me?" You felt his breath on the back of your neck as he spoke. "You're mine."

You kept your eyes glued onto the door. You didn't have the strength to look him in the eyes. Afraid of what you might see, of what he might do. Your shoulders trembled as your breaths left you in heavy uneven patterns. Tears threatened to spill from your eyes, you bit down so hard on your lip to keep pitiful whimpers from escaping that it began to bleed. Ryuji spoke again, his tone growing colder with every word. "You know that. You know that and yet...you run off with some charred up dickhead. Did you fuck him? Huh? Did you let him use your body, like the disgusting plaything you are?" You couldn't bring yourself to answer, his words stung your chest. But in a way, he was right. But your lack of answer was more than telling to him. "Did you like it? I bet you loved it. Does he fuck your better than I have? Was he repulsed by your used and marked body? Which by the way, I can see he's left marks of his own..." A part of you wanted to admit just how wonderful Dabi actually made you feel in that moment. It wasn't even about pleasure at one point. But about finally feeling love, comfort, so much more than anyone...than Ryuji, has ever made you feel.

"I only seem to be getting more confused by your thinking." Ryuji spoke again. "What makes you think he'll save you? It's not exactly his profession." He laughs bitterly. "A villain will not save you. No matter how much you think you "love" him. He'll only leave you once he's had his fill of your services. He's just like everyone else, greedy, only wanting you for what you can give to them. Your body, is all he wants. Can't you see that? If he really did care about you, why isn't he here?" You clench your fists tightly as they shook. Lies. All of it. Dabi did care about you. He wasn't using you. He made that very clear from the start. "What did you expect? He's nothing but a villain, a filthy criminal, a lowlife who will eventually die a meaningless death. Whether it be from the hands of a hero or another scumbag. Or me." You could practically hear his smug grin at the mention of him killing Dabi. You finally turn to face him. Your fear was still ever present, eating away at you. But you made sure to let your expression be telling, of just how angry you were. Angry at the insults towards Dabi. Angry that his death would mean nothing. Angry that Ryuji would threaten to kill the man you loved more than anything or anyone. You have been angry for so long, and was never able to show it. You had a feeling that this might could possibly end with you being harmed beyond fixing, possibly even dying at the hands of this monster, who's held you in his grasps for so long. Too long.

"You may be a man of your word, but so is Dabi." You began. "You know it, you heard him say it, that he would be the one to kill you. And he will. I know he will. And when he does...you will be nothing more than a bad memory, one that I will be looking forwards to forgetting in time." When you finished, Ryuji's grin fell. A deafening silence filled the room, the tension in the air so thick you could cut it with a knife. Suddenly, Ryuji began to chuckle. His chuckle quickly turning into a maddening cackle. You failed to keep your composure as he drew closer to you. Your back hit the door, his rough hand grabbing at your face, his hold so tight it would surely bruise. Your noise of discomfort was drowned out by his laughter. When he calmed down, he jerked your face close to his, and spoke with a voice that sent a new wave of fear throughout your body.

Last night, it was almost like, Dabi...Toya, really did love you. Your heart thumped against your chest, trying to ignore it was futile. You really wished you could, it would be so much easier if you could. But there was no denying it. You wanted this. You wanted him. You wanted to be with him forever. You never wanted him to leave you again. But it could never work. Not as long as you were like this. Not as long as you belonged to Ryuji. Your grip on the blanket tightened as you felt a sharp sting in your chest at the thought. You couldn't love or be loved by anyone as long as that were the case. A gasp left you as you heard your phone suddenly ring. You look over at the nightstand by the bed where your phone lay. You wanted to ignore it, you should ignore it. No good would come from answering that phone call. So why, why were you reaching for the phone? You looked at the screen as it rang, your hands trembled. You let out a shaky breath before laying the phone down next to you, the ringing finally stopped. It was the right thing to do. But something deep within you was saying otherwise. The more this went on, ignoring him, avoiding him, the worse it would be for you in the end. Your phone dinged, notifying you that there was a voice message. That was new. Ryuji had never left you a voice message before. Usually you always answered, or when you didn't, he'd give you a "reminder" to always answer next time. You pick the phone up again, and listened to the message.

"Hey baby! Long time no see, huh? I hear you're running around with another man. And quite the infamous man at that. Dabi, right? So. How does it feel? To run off with a villain. Is it exciting? Thrilling? Does it give you a rush like no other?"

Ryuji's voice turned sinister the more he spoke.

"I hope you're not getting too comfortable. Because I'm coming to get you. You're mine, and you know it. So why the fuck do you think it's ok to leave me? Do you really think, I'm just gonna stand by, and let you do this? When I find you, and I will find you, you are going to be very fucking sorry..."

Ryuji sighs heavily before speaking again.

"Baby, you know it's better if you stay with me. I mean, really, who would want you? You're nothing but a filthy hooker in the eyes of everyone else. Just some slut who gives her body away to anyone for a quick buck. No one wants that. No one wants you. No one but me. And do you really think, that someone would be willing to help you? You go asking for help, and all they'll do is see you as a prostitute. Then you'll be locked up. You'll be all alone again. You don't want that, now do you? So just wait for me, and I'll come get you. I'll forgive you. I'll be there for you, because no one else will."

And with that, the message ended. You slowly lowered the phone away from your ear. You had been called every name in the book by Ryuji, yet somehow, those words hurt you more than anything. Because you knew, that everything he said was true. You were nothing but a slut, a whore, a plaything. No one wants someone like you, you were beyond tainted, ruined, dirty. The only person who could give you worth, was Ryuji. He was the only one who wanted you, even if he did use you, hurt you, he still wanted you. He's the only one who wants you. The sound of the bathroom door opening snapped you out of your thoughts. You looked up and saw Dabi in the doorway, he was only wearing his pants, a towel in hand drying his...white hair...

You blinked in surprise. "Toya?" You say under your breath. Dabi stopped his drying, moving the towel away from his head. He smirks at your expression. "Surprised?" He asks. You nod. Truthfully, you had only ever known Toya to have white hair. But to see him like this, it made you nostalgic and...sad. He looked almost like he did years ago, only covered with scars. Still, through the scars, you could still see him. You could still see your best friend.

Best friend. Huh. Well, could you really call him your best friend after last night?

"It didn't always look like this." Dabi says, catching you off guard. "What?" You tilt your head slightly. "My hair, it wasn't always white. Believe it or not, I had striking resemblance to my old man." He tells you. Oh? You always thought he had gotten his looks from his mother. "How did that happen?" You asked. Dabi tosses the towel somewhere before walking to the bed and sitting down. "I was under a lot of fucking stress in that hell hole of a home I grew up in." Oh. You say nothing. You up at his snowy locks and stare for a moment. You wished he'd keep it this way, it made you feel so at home. "Get a good look. Won't last forever." He chuckles. "I wish it could." You say aloud. Dabi exhales softly. "Yeah?" You nod. There was silence between the two of you that followed. Your mind began to wonder back to the message Ryuji left you, making your chest ache.

It wouldn't last long, as you were brought back to reality by the feel of Dabi's hand on your own. You looked down at it, he didn't hold your hand really, he just kept his hand on top of yours. You then look up at him, he wasn't looking at you as he spoke. "You feeling alright?" He asks you. "Huh? Oh uh, yeah I'm alright." Finally he looks at you. "Bullshit."

"What?"

"Don't think I didn't see that look on your face earlier. That fucker called you didn't he? Did you answer?" You avoid his gaze. "I didn't answer it. I just listened to the voicemail."

"Like that's any better." Dabi muttered. "What did he say?" You didn't answer him, he said your name firmly. You sighed. "Just, the usual shitty stuff he always says to me. Threatening me, calling me a whore and all that good stuff." You shrug. Not satisfied with that answer, he gently grabbed your chin and made you look at him. "What did he say?" He asks again, only this time, it sounded less like asking, and more like demanding. "He...he said that no one but him wanted me. That I would be better of staying with him. That I would be tossed in jail if I asked for someone to help me." You said truthfully. Those words only fueled Dabi's rage. He couldn't wait to get his hands on that sleazy fuck. He couldn't wait to burn him alive. He'd make it hurt. He'd make sure that asshole would feel every single second of his agonizing death. He'd feel all the pain he put your through, doubled. Dabi would make sure he felt it all, and he would not stop, until he was nothing but ash.

"Well he's fucking wrong." Dabi tells you. "I'm helping you, and I'm as sure as hell not ratting you out to the cops for you to be put away, for something you never asked for. And..." Dabi suddenly trailed off. His hand that never left yours, squeezed slightly. "I want you." He admits. "If last night wasn't enough proof, then I'll just say it. I wanted you from the very beginning, and nothing has changed that. Even after everything that's happened, I still want you, as you were then and as you are now." You couldn't believe the words that came from Dabi. Someone like him, speaking so softly to you. Most people, if not everyone, would find it unbelievable. And even you, who's know him, the real him, found it as such. Not because of his nature or his villainous ways. But because you still see Toya, gentle and caring and compassionate Toya. And for someone like that, to want and to love, someone like you...That is what you found unbelievable.

Your shoulders began to tremble as tears gathered in your eyes. You tried to speak, but only choked sobs left you. He was too good to you, too good for you. He deserved so much more than what you could give. And he felt the same towards you. You were both broken beyond repair. But from within you two, was a deep yearning to be loved and wanted. If from no one else than from each other. That's all you both wanted. Wanting each other, and yet feeling unable to give more than what you have. Dabi brought in you in close to him, and held you in his arms. Once he felt that nothing, no one, could ever make his cold dead heart feel anything ever again. And that was for the best. He had something he reached for, something he needed to finish. He would not rest until he has accomplished what he has sought out to do from the beginning. Emotions would only serve to distract him and get in the way. And yet, here you were. In his life again, making his shriveled up heart beat with life once again. He couldn't keep you at a distance, he couldn't ignore you. He wanted you near him all the time. He had a strong urge to make sure you were ok, safe, and happy.

To see you like this, hurt and hopeless, it pained Dabi more than anything ever had or could. You were his light. You made him stronger, just by being near him. He felt like he was never ruined, never hurt, never changed. And it's all because of you. And you felt the same. Whenever you were around him in the past. You felt better, happier. Like you could do anything. And even now, despite the changes, those feelings never went away. He made you feel safe, he made you feel wanted. Ryuji really was wrong. Dabi's fire lit your heart up like no other.

"Ryuji said he was coming to find me himself." You tell Dabi after you calmed down. Dabi's hold on you tightens. "He's not gonna take you. Not while I'm still breathing. He'll be nothing but a bad memory when I'm done with him. I promise." You sigh shakily, hiding your face in his chest. You shiver slightly as you felt him run a hand up and down the small of your back. It was then it hit you, you were still very naked. You cleared your throat lightly before pulling back from him. "I should uh...I should hop in the shower." You mutter. "I'll be here when you get out." Dabi tells you. You nod before standing and making your way to the bathroom. You closed the door behind you. Dabi then turned his attention towards his phone. He dialed up a number, when the person he called answered, he spoke.

"I'm not one of those sleazy shitheads who are looking for a quick fuck, believe it or not. I'm not going to make you do something you don't want to do." Dabi tells you. "I've heard that before." You mutter, looking away from him. Dabi places his hand on your cheek, turning your face towards him again. He used his other hand to move up and down the side of your waist soothingly. "Do you trust me?" He asks. You nod your head. "Always have." Dabi seemed to have smiled at that. "Then, why would I lie?" You couldn't give him an answer. Sure, you could have said something along the lines of 'you're a villain' or whatever. But Dabi has done nothing but helped you so far. He wanted to help you, protect you, and keep you safe. Why wouldn't you trust him? "Toya...I don't think I can ever give you what you want." You start. "If you really do still love me, I can't be what you want. Why would you ever want me? I'm...Im dirty. I've been used by so many others. I'm...I'm not..." You trailed off. "I'm not worthy of anyone's love. Especially not from someone like you."

"Someone like me?" Dabi asks. "You make me sound like I'm some sort of saint." He tells you. Before you could argue against what he said, he continued. "As for you. You're still that girl I remember from back then. There's nothing you could do to make me see you any differently." Dabi leans up, his face but inches from your own. The look on his eyes gave you no sign of insincerity. "And if you'll have me, I'll show you just how much love I have for you. But I won't do a thing. Not until you want me too." Dabi says, fully accepting it right then and there, that if you were never ready to feel the same for him, then he would be fine with it. He's always put you first, back then, and even now. He'll be fine with whatever you choose, with whatever you want. And that scares him. His love for you scares him more than anything. Maybe it was because he knew he could never love you properly. He'd always be the villain, the bad guy. He couldn't give you the normal life you deserve.

Or maybe it was because, he knew there could be someone better out there for you. That someone could love you the right way. You deserved so much better than him. And it scared him, that he could loose you to someone else.

But he would not be selfish if it came down to that. He'd let you be happy.

Finally, after a long pause, you moved your arms up and wrapped them around his neck. You let your head fall until it gently rested upon his forehead. Dabi moved his hands up rested them on your waist. And finally, you spoke. "Show me then." You said with a soft whisper. "I want you to show me." Dabi moved slightly, his lips met yours. You slowly melted into the kiss, Dabi's hands moved down to your hips. Out of instinct, you began to grind your hips down on his. Dabi's grip tightens as he failed to hold back a groan. Your tongue swiped against Dabi's lower lip, he opened his mouth slightly, letting you in. He hummed before moving you to lay under him. He looked down at you, eyes trailing to the bruise on your cheek. It had lightened up a bit, but he still didn't like looking at it, it only reminded him of how much you've been mistreated.

Just as you were about to question him on why he wasn't doing anything, he leaned down and began to leave a trail of kisses down your neck, down to your chest. Dabi moved his hand up under your shirt, he pushed it up over your now bare breasts. He palmed one of them gently, groping it and thumbing at your perky nipple. "So soft." Dabi says with a slight smile. His hand gave one more gentle squeeze to your breast before moving it down to your stomach, he then played with the hem of your skirt. Dabi never thought he'd ever see you dressed like this. So tempting. He didn't know how to feel about it honestly. One part of him found you breath taking, your beautiful body being shown off like that. The other part of him hated it. That just anyone could see you like this. It was selfish, maybe wrong, that he should be the only one who gets to see your body, bare before him.

Tonight, you would be for his eyes only. Dabi switched positions, you were now laying back on the bed, while he was above you. He removed your skirt along with your top the rest of the way. "You had better tell me to stop right now if you're having second thoughts. I don't think I'll be able to stop once I start." Dabi warns you. You spread your legs apart, not breaking your eyes away from his. You watched in slight amusement as Dabi's eyes widened a bit. You weren't wearing underwear. This wasn't an abnormal occurrence, some nights you chose not to wear any for the convince of yourself and your "costumers". Most of them tore them off of you and you were left without underwear anyway. "I'm counting on it." You say with a smirk. Dabi's shock wore off quickly, he chuckled.

He sat up and removed his shirt, you couldn't tear your eyes away as he did so. Even with so many scars, he looked so beautiful. He was so perfect. He leaned down to hover over you again, you took the chance to rub your hands up and down his built upper body. You felt every inch of smooth mixed with rough skin, your fingers traced the outline of the scar on his torso. You were careful as the tips of your fingers skimmed his staples. You hand trailed down to the waist of his pants, you tugged on it slightly. Dabi got your message and removed them along with his underwear. You couldn't ignore the the heat pooling in your core at the sight of his cock, especially at his choice of piercings along his shaft. You glance up at him, Dabi laughs at the look you gave him.

"You like 'em?" He asks. You grin before wrapping your hand around it. "I do." You say as you slowly rub your hand up and down his cock, the precum leaking from it's head made it easier as it coated his dick. The feeling of the piercings against your palm made your head run wild with thoughts of how they would feel inside of you, against your soft walls. You move it back up and swipe your thumb across the tip a few times, causing him to groan. You pumped your hand faster, you made sure to keep your eyes locked onto his as you did so. The lust filled look in Dabi's eyes matched your own. He stopped your hand and pushed you back onto the bed gently before leaning down to your pussy. You shutter at the feel of his breath against you as he spoke.

"As much as I liked that, tonight's about you baby." He says before planting a kiss on your clit, your hips bucked at the feeling. The kiss turned into a light suck, his tongue flicking over the bundle of nerves, making you whimper softly. You gasp sharply as you felt his finger enter you, he groans, pulling away for a second. "You're so wet, look how easily it slid in." He moves his head back down to your clit before adding another finger. He pumped his fingers in and out of you slowly as his tongue drags over your clit. You grab at his hair, tugging on it and pressing him in closer to you. You cried his name as he quickened the pace of his fingers. "Yes, don't stop Toya. Please...please!" You moan, legs shaking as you felt your orgasm approaching.

You cried out as you feel Dabi's teeth graze your clit, his fingers pumping in and out faster and faster. Your legs squeezed around his head, hips grinding up into his mouth. "Toya!" You cry, you were so close, just a bit more...Dabi licked a long trail upwards before pulling away, removing his fingers out of you. You whimper at the loss. Dabi brought his fingers, which were coated in your slick, up to his mouth. He licked them clean, savoring your juices as if it would be the last thing he'd taste. "You'll get to cum baby, but I wanna feel it around my cock. Is that alright?" You nod, wrapping your legs around his waist, trying to pull him in.

Dabi placed his hands on each side of your head as he lined himself up at your entrance. You whimper as he rubs his cock against your pussy. "Toya..." You whine. Dabi chuckled before grabbing his shaft, pumping it a few times before pushing the tip inside of you. He grabbed your hips while he pushed himself in slowly. You both sigh shakily as he bottomed out. You moved your hips, desperately needing him to do something. Dabi's hold on your hips tightened, stilling your movements. He kept you still for a moment, just enjoying the feel of your walls warming his cock. You felt amazing, more amazing than he ever imagined you'd feel. He leaned down to plant a soft kiss on your forehead before pulling his hips back, then he slowly thrusted into you.

His pace was deep and slow, something you weren't entirely use to. Most of the people you sleep with like to be rough with you. Some totally disregarding how you were feeling, borderline not caring if you were hurting at times. Ryuji was the worst of them when it came to that. 'No...Don't think about him right now.' You say in your head. You meet Dabi's eyes, focusing on him and him alone. And how fucking good he was making you feel right now. You moved your hands up to Dabi's back, trying to ground yourself as he somehow pushed himself even deeper into you. You could feel him shudder, his grip on your hips tightening.

Dabi lowers his body down, his arms wrapping around you in an almost hug. He hid his face in your neck, you could feel his breath against you. He let out a few breathy curses, he nipped and kissed at your neck softly. Dabi suddenly hit that oh so special spot deep within you, you choked out a moan, hand reaching up to caress the back of his head. "T-Toya..." You tugged slightly at his hair, he pulled back from your neck to face you. You placed your hands on his cheeks and pulled him in for a kiss. The more he brushed against that spot, the more undone you became. It wouldn't be long now before you fall apart completely. Your moans were muffled by Dabi's mouth, he pulled away, wanting to hear your beautiful voice in all it's glory.

Dabi felt himself growing close as well, but he wouldn't let himself finish before you. Tonight was about you and your pleasure. He quickened his pace slightly, causing you to cry his name. Within a few more thrusts, you felt that deep wave of pleasure wash over you. You clenched tightly around Dabi as you cum, his thrusts became uneven and sloppy. Dabi huskily groaned your name before you felt his warmth fill you to the brim. He thrusts a few more time, fucking through his and your orgasm. Finally his movements stopped, his forehead meeting yours, you both pant heavily as you try to catch your breath. Dabi kissed you deeply, savoring the feel of you for a moment before slowly pulling out of you.

He stood from the bed and walked to the bathroom, shortly returning with a wet rag. He made his way over to you and cleaned you up before discarding the rag. He crawled back into the bed and laid beside you, pulling you into him. You sigh softly when you felt him caress your back, you nuzzle yourself into him and close your eyes. Before you drift off, you heard Dabi's voice. "How are you feeling?" You look up at him, a bit surprised. "I'm...fine." You tell him. "You were, really gentle with me." Dabi chuckled. "Yeah? Seems a little out of character, huh?" He smiles lazily. "You wanted me to show you how much I loved you right? I hope I did a good job."

You smile as well. "Yeah...you did." Dabi kissed your cheek before pulling the blanket over you and himself. "Get some sleep." He tells you. You nod and yawn before finally allowing yourself to fall asleep. And for once, you felt safe. You felt whole.

"Hi there. How can I...uh help you two today?" You couldn't ignore the look on the woman's face as she saw you. You were still in the same clothes you wore last night. Normally you wouldn't care but, you felt a little embarrassed by her stare. You clear your throat and spoke. "One room please." The woman glanced at Dabi then back to you before typing at her computer. "Last name?" She asks, stealing another glance at the two of you. You couldn't be mad, this looked a little...You gave her your last name, she typed at her computer again. Dabi reached into his pocket and wordlessly placed a credit card down in front of the receptionist. She took and swiped it before handing it back to Dabi. How did he get a credit card? He told you villains don't get paid. You just assumed it wasn't really his. The receptionist gave you a room card. "Your room is Two O' Three. Enjoy your stay..." You gave her a nod before walking past the desk, Dabi at your side. The two of you walked into the elevator, Dabi pressed the floor button and leaned back against the wall. The elevator doors closed, leaving you two in a tight space with quiet jazz music playing in the background. The ride up was...awkward, to say the least.

It shouldn't have been. This wasn't the first time you walked into a hotel with someone. But that whole exchange made you want to curl up and die. You glanced at Dabi, you couldn't read his expression due to the mask and shades. You just hoped he didn't feel like you did back there. The elevator dinged before the doors opened. Thankfully, there was no one waiting to get on the elevator after you both. The two of you stepped out and made your way to the room and walked inside. Dabi closed the door behind him and took off the mask and shades of his disguise. You walked to the bed and sat down on the edge. "I know it's not much." Dabi began, you turned to face him as he spoke. "But this is the best I can do for now. I'm not in a position to take you anywhere "safe" really. Cops won't help you, neither will the heroes. You'll be arrested. My place would have been fine to keep you in, but that's not an option anymore. And there is no way in hell, I'm taking you to the League's hideout. So, this is the best we got for now."

"It's fine. I appreciate your help. How far away are we from where we were exactly?" You ask him. "Not far. Speaking of, I need to get going." Dabi says as walks back to the door. "You're leaving?" Dabi nods. "I need to take care of that asshole." You stood up from the bed. "But..." You trailed off. You didn't know what to say, you knew there was no stopping Dabi now. He was dead set on killing Ryuji. But, you didn't want him to go. Not yet. You didn't want to be alone right now. But you couldn't ask that of him, he's already done so much for you. So, you decided to say nothing else. However, Dabi could see right through you. "I'll have to go eventually. I can't let him find you." You nod. "I know." Dabi felt a twinge in his chest at your sadden tone. He sighed before walking to you, he moved his hands to place them on your waist. He pulled you in close. "Are you worried?" He asked, you nod. "Don't be. I'll be alright, you should worry more about your boss. What's that scumbag's name anyway?"

"Ryuji." You tell him. "Well, Ryuji, is going to be nothing but a pile of ash when I'm done with him." Dabi says with a smirk. He goes to pull away from you, but you stopped him by grabbing his hand. He says your name with a sigh. "Don't go." You say weakly. "Please." You still weren't fine with it. You knew he was only trying to protect you, but you'd never forgive yourself he got hurt on your behalf. Dabi said nothing, he didn't move away from you. He really should have though. He should just leave now and go kill that son of a bitch. Then, he could go back to how things were. Another sigh left him. But, he knew that's not how it would be. Things would never be how it was ever again. Not after you re-entered his life. How could it ever be the same now?

"Alright. But I'm leaving tomorrow." You nod once again, yet you didn't let go of his hand. Dabi moved his free hand and lifted your chin to look at him. "You still look tired." He says. You looked over at the digital clock on the nightstand next to the bed. It was four in the morning, you had only slept for an hour. "You won't leave while I'm sleeping will you?" You ask. "No. I won't." You tugged on Dabi's hand. "You should get some sleep too then." Dabi didn't bother arguing, instead, he crawled into bed with you. Dabi made sure to give you your space, but you weren't having that. You snuggled up to Dabi and rest your head on his chest. "Touchy huh?" Dabi jokes. You just hummed before closing your eyes. Dabi places his hand on your back, his eyes staring up at the ceiling of the room. Eyes then flickering down when he felt your touch. You were gently caressing the scarred part of his chest, that was slightly exposed by the dip of his shirt collar. "You sure you wanna do that?"

"Does it hurt?" You ask, pausing your movement. "No." Dabi mutters. You continued your ministrations. "Aren't you grossed out?" Dabi suddenly asks. "Why would I be?" You ask as you carefully move over the staples connecting his scars to his untouched skin. "Just look at me. I'm not pleasant to look at." You lift your head up to look at him. "Toya. You're not unpleasant to look at." You say firmly, almost scolding him for talking like that. "Oh yeah? You not just saying that cause you like me?" He says with a smirk. "Of course I like you." You tell him, his smirk fell. "But I'm being serious when I say, you're very handsome. You've always been." You felt Dabi's hold on you tighten as you said that. Before you ask if he was ok, he let out weak laugh. "You have no idea what you do to me." He says, tilting his head up towards the ceiling. You tilt your head, confused. "You know...When I was a teen. I had a massive crush on you." Your eyes widened slightly. Dabi, Toya, had a crush on you? How come you ever noticed? Why didn't he ever tell you?

"You...You did?" You ask. "Yeah. I was pretty much in love with you." Dabi admits. "I would have told you but, I was too afraid something bad would happen if I did..." He muttered. You felt your breath catch in your throat. You pushed it down before speaking. "Something bad?" Dabi shrugs. "Like, you'd reject me or something. I guess, it was best I didn't tell you in the end. We wouldn't be together long even if you did accept me, not after what I did." You look back down at his chest. "And now?" You found yourself asking. Dabi was quiet, making you anxious. It was a stupid question, why would he-

"I guess nothings changed."

Before Dabi could answer, the person was pushing their way inside. You froze as the two of you locked eyes. The person in front of you was a girl in her teens. She had blond hair that was messily tied up into buns and wore a female school uniform. You knew who she was, there was no one who didn't know who she was. She was Himiko Toga, one of the members from the League of Villains. Toga grins wide upon seeing you before turning to Dabi. "Am I interrupting something?" She says with a sly giggle. Dabi scowls, this was the last thing he needed right now. "I didn't know you were into those types of girls Dabi!" You would have taken offense to that if you weren't "those types of girls".

"Toga, get out." Dabi tells her. Toga places a hand on her hip before turning back to you. "You're awfully pretty to be doing what you do." You shrug. "You can still be pretty and do what I do. I don't recommend it though." Toga smirks. "How long have you been seeing Dabi? Or is this just a one time thing?" Dabi walks over to her and grabs her wrist before dragging her to the door. "Hey! I'm not done talking to her yet!" Toga whines. "Yes you are. We don't have time to be messing around." Says Dabi. Just as he went to throw her out, he heard heavy footsteps along with some gruff voices.

"You sure we got the right place?"

"Guy down the street said he saw a woman dressed in slutty clothes come this way. She could be the boss' girl."

"She could also be one of the other dozens of hookers roaming the streets."

"You willing to turn back and tell that to the boss yourself?"

"Fine. But this better not be a waste of time."

Dabi cursed under his breath before pulling Toga back inside and shutting the door. "Toga, take her to my bedroom and keep her there. Do not come out until you hear me say so." He says quickly. "What? Why? What's going on?" Toga asks. "Just do what I say alright?" Toga rolls her eyes before taking your hand. "You better explain yourself better after you kill those guys." She says before quickly leading you to the bedroom. You look back at Dabi with worry before you were brought inside of the room and the door was pulled shut.

Dabi walked outside, the two men from earlier stopped in their tracks as they saw him. Dabi didn't give them a chance to do much of anything before he was sending a wave of blue flames towards one of them. The other man watched in horror as the other was burned to a crisp right in front of his eyes. He turned back to Dabi, who was slowly approaching him. "Heard you're looking for someone." He says lowly. Dabi grabbed the man's throat and pulled him in. "Well you're not gonna find her. Now, you go back and tell your limp dick boss that she ain't coming back. And if he wants to come and get her himself, he'll have to go through me first. Got it?" As Dabi spoke, he slowly heated his hand while he spoke, the man writhed as he felt his flesh being burned. The man frantically nodded before Dabi let him go. He ran off, clutching his throat as he did so.

Dabi made sure he was gone before he went back. He walked inside and made his way back to the bedroom. He knocked on the door before speaking. "It's me. You can come out now." The door opened, you rushed to Dabi and looked him over. "Are you ok?" You asked. "They didn't hurt you did they?" Dabi chuckled. "Trust me, what I did can't compare to what they could have done to me." You sigh in relief. "You should really have more faith in me." Dabi tells you with a slight smirk, he placed his hand on your head and ruffled your hair. You push his hand off your head with a huff. "I do have faith in you."

"Soooo." Toga's voice caught yours and Dabi's attention. She was standing there with a smirk on her face. "How long have you guys been going out?" She asks. "It's not like that." Dabi tells her. "Could have fooled me." Toga says with a shrugs. "So, what's going on? Why did she have to hide?"

Dabi looks to you, as if asking if it was ok to speak about it. You nod, rubbing your arm awkwardly. "Her "boss" is looking for her. He's been mistreating her for a long time now, and I'm trying to keep her away from him." Toga raised an eyebrow. "And why are you doing that?" Dabi sighs heavily. "Look, just get out of here. I expect that her boss will be here at some point, there's going to be a fight for sure." He tells her. "If there's going to be a fight, why should I leave? You might need my help." Toga argues. "Toga." Dabi says firmly. "Fiiiiine." Toga groans before walking past Dabi and you. "Don't come crawling to me when you're getting your butt kicked." She says before approaching the door. But before she leaves, she turns and looks at you. "Take care." She says with a wave before finally leaving.

Dabi looks to you, he could practically feel your nervousness. "We need to get you somewhere safer. No doubt your boss will be coming here." You look up at him. "Where?" You ask. Dabi gave it some thought, where could hide you where you couldn't be found easily? There wasn't exactly anywhere he could take you personally, given his reputation. But, that wouldn't stop him from taking you as far away from here as possible. "I'll figure that out later. For right now, we need to get going." Dabi says before leading you out of the door. It made you more than a little anxious, not knowing where you'd end up. But, you trusted Dabi. He's done nothing but helped you so far, protected you. You'd be a fool not to trust him.

Normally you wouldn't have trusted anyone, villain or not. You learned long ago that putting your trust in someone would only end with you getting hurt. But Dabi, Toya, was different. You'd trust him with your life if it came down to it. And really, it has. Dabi lead you to the back of the apartment complex where the cars were parked. You followed Dabi to a rather expensive looking black car with heavily tinted windows. "Is this your car?" You ask. Dabi nods before opening the passenger side door for you. You hopped in, Dabi shut the door before walking to the other side and getting in the driver's seat. The inside was just as nice as the outside, though, you could smell a hint of cigarette smoke. Dabi pushed the button to start the car before pulling out of the parking lot.

"How did you afford something like this? Do villains get paid?" You asked Dabi. Dabi chuckled. "You think I could afford something this?" He glances at you before turning his attention back to the road. "No, we do not get paid. Well, not like how your thinking." You lean back into the seat, trying to relax. "So you stole it?"

"Yep. Does that bother you?"

You shrug. "I mean, I'd be a hypocrite if I said it did bother me. I've stolen some in my days." You had no choice at times, besides, you didn't want to add more to your ever growing debt. Dabi didn't seemed to have questioned you on that, which you were thankful for. You yawned feeling your eyelids grow heavy. Damn you were tired. You took your phone out and looked at the time. Three in the morning, it read. While looking at the phone, you saw many unread texts from Ryuji. You didn't want to think about what he might have sent you, so you put the phone away.

"You should get some sleep. We might be driving for a while." Dabi tells you. You try to stifle a yawn but failed. "But what about you?" You asked him. You then felt his hand being placed on your thigh, his thumb rubbing up and down against your skin comfortingly. "Don't worry about me. I've pulled all-nighters before, I'll be fine. You just relax and sleep, ok?" You nod sleepily before closing your eyes. But before you drifted off, you spoke. "Thank you, Toya."

Dabi said nothing, he kept driving, his hand still on your leg. Dabi wasn't normally a touchy person, but he didn't mind this. He didn't mind your touch either, if anything, it brought him comfort in some ways. Made him less tense. Just like old times...

Though he hid it well from the public eye, his father knew. And because of that, he had given up on training his son. But training would not be the only thing being given up on, it seemed his father had given up on Toya as a whole. Of course Toya was hurt by this, his father, who he thought once loved him, who he though was proud of him. Had tossed him aside to make room for a new prodigy. So, Toya made it his personal mission to prove to his father that he could control his quirk. That he could be better.

But with every passing day, over the years that came, Toya only grew worse. He was only hurting himself in pursuit of controlling his quirk and making his father proud. Toya had once been given the opportunity to become a hero like his father, but those hopes were extinguished. His father believed Toya could never become a hero at the rate he was going. And it wasn't until the latest son was born into the family. One who would become his father's new favorite, all his love would go into that child. This child would gain the ability to control two quirks at once. And his father would give his attention to that child. At some point, a realization had come to Toya. Every time one of his siblings had been born, that they had been born to serve a purpose. To become the perfect creation to someday surpass the number one hero.

Something inside of Toya snapped. This whole time, he was being used for his father's selfish gains. His father never loved him, his father just wanted to use him. All the lies, all the abuse, it was all for nothing. No matter how hard Toya would try, it would never be enough. He would always been outshined by his youngest brother. One day, Toya had tried to attack him, resulting in a harsh punishment from his father. His father would not allow him to harm his "perfect son", he would not allow someone like Toya to jeopardize his future. Unlike Toya, he had a bright future. Unlike Toya, he would get the love that not him or his other siblings would get. Unlike Toya, he was perfect.

Toya decided that he would no longer be apart of this. He would not stand by and watch this disgusting display of fake love given by his liar of a father. The abuse would continue, Toya knew this. It would never stop. There was nothing Toya could do to stop it, he was useless. He wasn't strong enough to stand against his father. He could do nothing. All attempts would be met with pain and failure. There was no way out.

Not until he died.

Toya found himself outside of his house, some yards away. He looked up at the night sky, the moon was full, casting a soft light onto him. The beautiful scene did nothing for the emptiness he felt inside. He closed his eyes, and let the silence of the night bring him peace before he made his choice. It would be the last time he felt such peace. Before he gave into his rage and hatred. Flames erupted from his hands, slowly engulfing his arms. He opened his eyes and brought his arms upwards. Through the flames, he could see the scars ever present. Those scars would follow him for the rest of his life. They would be a constant reminder of his failure, of his foolish trust. But needed that reminder. He needs to be reminded why he was doing this. The reminder of his hatred for the false hero he once called father. Toya kicked up the intensity of his flames, he felt the pain of the burning but did not stop.

He fueled his flames stronger, the fire spread throughout his entire body. Yet he did not stop. He anger pushed him through the agony. He let out a guttural wail, he screamed. He screamed like he never screamed before. He let all of it out with his yells, all his pain, all his hatred. His fire shot outward, anything that's surrounded him was quickly engulfed. Of course this caught the attention of his father. A sinking feeling hit him as he realized that this was Toya's flames. But by the time he made it to the scene, it was too late. Toya was no longer there, all that remained was the fire.

That was the day Toya died. And Dabi was born.

By the time Dabi was finished, you found yourself feeling a deep pain. You had no idea, his home life was so messed up. And Toya hid it all so well, you weren't any the wiser of his situation. You didn't bother asking if he were ever ok, because he radiated positivity. You assumed someone like him could never be struggling like he had been. "Toya I...I'm sorry I-" Dabi cut you off. "No point in being sorry. It was bound to happen someday, one way or another, this would have been the outcome. Besides." Dabi glances at you. "It's not like you knew."

"Yes, but still. I should have been more aware, asked more questions. Instead I just assumed you were fine." Overwhelming guilt consumed you. "If I had, maybe...maybe I could have helped you in some way." Dabi grins slightly. "No. Even if you had somehow figured out what was going on, I would have never let you get involved." He tells you. "I don't think you could have helped me anyway. I was far too gone." You couldn't accept that. Toya was once so bright, his flame only added to the light he gave off. And all of it was snuffed out, all because of some asshole fake hero. He was right, if you had known, you would have gotten involved. By smacking the shit out of his father and giving him a piece of your mind.

"There's no going back from here. There's no changing what I've done. But, I do regret some of my choices." Dabi lightly placed his hand against your cheek. "I wasn't there when you were hurting." You lean into his touch. "Toya...It's fine."

"It's not." Dabi says firmly. "I found out about your parents dying and you ending up in foster care, I meant to find you then. But, I lost track of you. Then I hear your name through the mouths of the scumbags who've used you. I picked them off one by one until I found out exactly where you were." Dabi rubs his thumb gently against your skin. "You couldn't imagine how I felt when I found out that...that you had been put in this kind of situation. And it might have been avoided had I just stuck around a little longer. I might now have been able to have been saved...But, I could have saved you then."

Tears pool in your eyes as Dabi brought you closer to him. Dabi almost didn't believe it, he was a villain, trying to save someone. But he wanted to, just this once. He wanted to let the part of him that died, have this. This moment to save someone from a life of pain and misery. He held you tightly against him, afraid if he were to let go, you'd disappear.

You let yourself relax in Dabi's embrace, he was warm. He always has been. You missed his warmth, you had been so cold without it. There would be times when you were alone, and you'd feel so...empty. You felt as if you were missing something. And this was it. You were missing Dabi in your life, his touch, his warmth. It was the same as it was back then. If one thing had stayed the same, it was his warmth.

The moment of solace was interrupted by a knock at the door. Your heart rate picked up, Dabi became tense. He pulled back slightly and looked at the door. He felt your grip on him tighten. He turns back to you and moves his finger up to his lips, signaling for you to stay quiet. He then heads for the door.

People knew not to mess with him. They all knew the consequences if they were to do any of the sort. And that goes for anyone, men, women, heroes and villains alike. One night when one of your fellow workers had gone "mysteriously" missing. Apparently she had stolen money from Ryuji, and when he found out about it...well, you never heard from or saw her ever again. Ryuji told you about her, but never what happened to her. But, you knew, he had something to do with it. The look on his face, the tone of his voice gave it all away. You could help but feel bad for the poor girl. She probably did it because she was in a similar situation as you. Forced to pay off an impossible debt to Ryuji. She was left with no other options, and did what she thought would help her.

It's too bad she was found out. You only hoped it was quick, whatever Ryuji had done to her...

The other girls knew it was Ryuji too. There was just no hiding it. They all learned somehow, not to underestimate Ryuji. He was someone to be taken seriously. He was someone who wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty if he must. They all feared him, and for good reason. They were all trapped, they would never be able to escape him. Not unless they were ready to die trying. And unfortunately, some were.

"Your spacing out."

Dabi's voice caught your attention. You look over at him. He was leaning against the wall nearby the window, he seemed to have been watching for something. "You alright?" He tears his attention away from the window to focus on you. You shrug. "Just...anxious I guess?" You mutter. "The last time I tried getting away from him..." You trailed off, not wanting to remember that day. "It didn't end well." Dabi pushed himself off the wall and walked towards you. "He's not going to find you." He tells you. "I promise." You wanted to believe him, you really did. Though, you had never hoped for anything for anything for a long time now. Any hope you had was extinguished, there was no point in hoping. No one was coming to save you,  not then. So why would it be any different now? Dabi could try, you knew that much, he could try to help you.

But ultimately, it would be useless. In the end, you would always wind up right back to Ryuji. He would have you until the day you died.

"What's that look for?" Dabi asked you. You didn't answer him. You were afraid if you tried to speak right now, you'd just end up crying. Dabi could see the shakiness in your hands, the light tremble of your shoulders. Anger filled Dabi. All this time he wasn't there, you were being hurt. And he was unable to help you. Help. That almost made him laugh. He was a villain, villains don't help people. And yet, once he found out about your situation, he wanted nothing more than to help you. To save you.

You were his best friend after all.

"Another secret admirer? Well, aren't you just the heart throb of all of Japan?" You could hear the sly tone in his voice. You roll your eyes before taking the love letter that was taped to your locker and tucking it away in your school bag. "Very funny Toya." You say with fake annoyance. "You know how I feel about this kind of attention." You learned to get use to everyone's eyes on you, thanks to your new found popularity. Wanting to be your friend and all. But you could do without the ones who begged for your attention and love. Especially through these kinds of methods. Toya just chuckled as he leaned against the lockers. "Yeah, but you got to understand. Anyone would kill to be in your position. Tons of friends, smart, pretty, having people fall at your feet left and right." You shake your head before closing your locker. "It's not as great as it sounds. Most of my "friends" aren't as sincere as they appear to be. And, then I have to deal with the creeps who like me. You remember what happened last time."

Oh yes. The time Toya had to scare a guy off for basically stalking you on your way home from school. "Right. You're so lucky to have me in your life." He says with a dramatic sigh. "What would you do without me?" You swat his arm lightly. "Don't make it sound like I'd fall apart without you. Buuut, life would be kind of sucky without you in it." Toya nods in agreement. "I know."

"Oh shut it Toya." You giggle. It was true though. Life just wouldn't be the same without Toya in it. He made the worst days into the best. He was the light in the darkness. He made you feel like you could do anything, be anything. He made you hopeful for your future.

But that was a long time ago.

That doesn't mean he won't be here for you now though. He couldn't promise the future. He couldn't promise that he'd always be around. But right now, you needed him more than ever, and he knew this. Therefore, he would stay.

"He's never going to hurt you again." Dabi tells you. He gently takes hold of your chin, making you look up at him. "I won't let anyone ever hurt you again."

"You don't know that." You say with a weak voice. "Someway, somehow, I'll be hurt again. There's no escape for me, there's never been." Tears began to stream down your face. "Why...How did things end up like this? What could we have done differently?"

"We?" Dabi asks.

"You weren't suppose to turn out like this Toya!" You say, voice breaking. "I wasn't suppose to be doing what I've been doing. And you...you had such a bright future ahead of you. You were good. You've been nothing but kind, and caring. And now...now you're this. I don't believe that it's nothing, or coincidence. Something must have happened. What happened Toya, for you to become this?" Dabi was silent. He understood why you were angry, upset by what he's become. It was such a big leap, a huge turn of events. And it all seemed to have happened so fast. Of course you'd be upset. But, you hadn't the slightest clue about what it was like for him back then. What hell he went through.

But you deserved to know. You deserved to know the truth.

You learned how to deal with it.

You decided to wear something a little more appropriate, at least until tonight. 

You walked to your kitchen and opened your fridge, and just as you expected, you were low on food. You sighed heavily before closing the fridge door shut. Looks like you had to make a trip to the store. Normally, you'd just order take out. But you were getting kind of sick of that, and wanted something home cooked for once. You put on your shoes before walking out of your apartment.

You made it to the store and picked out something simple to cook before checking out. You could catch the man ringing up your groceries glancing at your face every now and then. You knew he was staring at the bruise, you just didn't care. It's not like he'd ask if you were ok or if you needed help. And he didn't. He finished bagging up your groceries and you were on your way out.

Once back home you began to cook. You taught yourself to cook a while back, you're weren't great, but you were decent. It was good enough, you weren't trying to impress anyone with your cooking. Once it was finished you grabbed a plate before sitting on the couch and turning on the TV. You flicked through the channels as you ate, nothing interesting was on, like always. You'd eventually just decided to watch some trashy reality show. You watch as two girls get into a fight over something petty. They were scratching and pulling at each other's hair while calling each other bitches and skanks.

Having enough, you finished off what you cooked before turning off your TV. You walked back to your bedroom to get ready for the night.

You were counting up what money you made tonight and as you finished, you pocket it before pulling out your phone and texting Ryuji. You told him that you would meet up with him later tonight to hand off the money. You were so busy looking at your phone, you didn't notice the man who approached you until he cleared his throat. You look up from your phone screen and raised an eyebrow. "Can I help you?" You asked the man. He smirked before speaking. "Don't know, can you?" You knew where this was going. You put away your phone and placed a hand on your hip. "How much you got?"

The man takes out a stack of cash and holds it up. "This enough?" You shrug before leading him into an alleyway. "So, what do you want big guy?" You say, with a fake sultry tone. The man walked closer to you, his smirk gone. "I want you to come with me." Before you could question him, you felt yourself begging spun around and pushed up against the hard brick wall. You then felt something cold clamp around your wrists. Your breath was caught in your throat as you realized what was happening. The man, or rather police officer, began dragging you off. "Let me go!" You tell, trying to jerk away from you. "Stop resisting before I make you." He says roughly. This was bad. This was bad for so many reasons.

You're getting arrested, Ryuji would find out, and if he bails you out, you're gonna be in deep shit. You were suppose to be careful, he warned you of this kind of thing. But how were you to know? He didn't look like a cop at all. He looked like any other bastard roaming the streets at night. Once he reached his car, he slammed you onto the hood and began to search you. He removed your phone and money. Fuck. It's only getting worse. Ryuji was going to kill you for sure. Your heart rate sky rocketed as you panic. And it didn't help that this fuckhead was being so rough with you. He jerked you to stand again before he opened the back door of his car. There was no way out of this.

"Hey."

Or maybe there was .

The cop looked over to the source of the voice. Ahead of him, was a tall dark figure. "Who's there?" The cop calls out to them. The figure grows closer, until the cop could make out who it was. "Get the fuck away from her." Dabi. You turn your head to face him as best as you could. "Dabi." The cop scowls before reaching for his gun. Dabi rushed towards him and grabbed his face before blasting blue flames out from him palm. The cop barely could get a scream out before his head burned up completely. You flinch away from the harsh heat that radiated from the blast. The cop's body fell to the ground, now brunt flesh sizzling and smoking. Dabi then crouched down before grabbing the cuff keys from him. He stepped over the cop's body to get to you. "Dabi..." You say his name breathlessly.

Dabi inserts the key into the handcuffs before removing them from your wrists. You rub at your wrist gently, before looking up at Dabi. He was frowning, before you could ask him what was wrong, you felt his hand move up to your bruised cheek. You flinch at his touch causing Dabi's frown to deepen. "That asshole did this." He says. "Where does that fucker live?" He asks you. You sigh before moving your hand up to his own and removing it from your cheek. "There's no point."

"I'm serious." Dabi tells you. "And so am I." You argue. "Don't be a hero. Just, forget about it ok?" You didn't need to tell Dabi of all people not to be a hero. But if he really was serious, then you'd do everything you could to stop him from doing something stupid. There really was no point. "How do you expect me to forget about it?"

"Dabi. Drop it."

"You expect me to just let this continue? To just let you get hurt?"

"This has nothing to do with you, so just stay out of it." You tell him. Dabi scoffed. "Stay out of it? No, I'm not going to do that."

"Why do you care?" You genuinely ask. Since when did villains ever care about the well being of others? Well, maybe that was a bit unfair, now that you think about it. But, what were you to think of Dabi now? He's nothing like he was before. He's hurt people, he's killed people. He's not exactly a good person. So, it made you curious. Why would he care? Why would he be concerned about your well being? Dabi sighed heavily. "If you won't tell me where he lives, I'll just have to find out myself." He says before starting to walk away. "Dabi!" You call his name, frustration lacing your tone. "I mean it, don't get involved!"

Dabi ignored you as he walked. "Dabi!" You yell his name again. Still, he ignored you. Your hands began to shake, you had a sinking feeling in your gut. This was the last thing you wanted. Dabi didn't need to do this, he didn't need to get mixed up in all of this, he didn't need to potentially get hurt because of this. Because of you.

You'd never forgive yourself.

Your legs seemed to have moved on their own.

If he gets hurt because of you.

You rush to him. Reached for him, and grabbed him. You held onto him from behind, making him stop.

You couldn't loose him again.

"Please." Your voice cracked as tears filled your eyes. "Don't do it Toya." You were unable to see Dabi's expression, but you could feel his body tense. You've only just got your best friend back. Whether Dabi felt the same way about you or not, you weren't ready to loose him for a second time. "What do you want me to do then?" Dabi finally spoke after a while. "I already to you. Stay out of it." You sniffle. "I can't do that." Dabi mutters. "Why not!?" You cry. Why couldn't he just be like everyone else? Why couldn't he just ignore it, just like everyone else? Why did he have to care? "And you didn't answer my question. Why do you care?" You ask. Dabi turned around to face you. He opened his mouth to speak, and then, your phone rang.

You already knew who it was. Who else would it be? You were tempted to ignore it, but you knew better than to do that. You you each for your phone, but before you could press answer. Dabi took it from you and answered instead. "Dabi! What are you doing?" Dabi moved the phone up to his ear.

"Bitch where are you at!? I told you not to be late again god damn it!"

You could hear Ryuji yelling from where you stood. "She's not coming." Dabi spoke into the phone. There was silence for a moment before Ryuji spoke again.

"Who the hell are you?"

"The name's Dabi. I'm the man who's gonna kill you."

You opened the door of your apartment and walked inside. As you stepped in and shut the door behind you, you heard the sound of Ryuji's voice fill your ears. "About time you got back." You hold back a sigh before speaking. "My last guy talked my ear off and wouldn't let me leave." You try to explain without giving too much away. "I don't want to hear your fucking excuses. You know what time you're suppose to be back. Now, how much did you make tonight?" Ryuji asks. You take the money out that you collected tonight. Thanks to Dabi, it was much more than you should have made. Ryuji raises an eyebrow before smirking. "You get with a hero tonight?" You nod your head. "Yeah, he gave me more than he should have." You lie.

"Well, if you keep meeting guys like that, your debt to me will be paid off in no time." Says Ryuji, though you were doubtful. There was no girl of his alive that was able to pay him back. You would be no different. Ryuji takes the money from you and pocketed it before heading for the door. "I expect rent to be paid by the end of the week, got it?" You turn to face him. "About that. I...I thought maybe that extra money that I made tonight could go towards my rent?" Ryuji turns back to you, a slight frown on his face. "And why would you think that?" 

"Well, I mean, I just don't have enough to pay this month's rent. So, couldn't that extra bit pay some of it off? It would really help. Besides, the money is going to you anyway. It shouldn't matter-"

Ryuji cut you off with the sharp spit of your name. You immediately go quiet. "For fucks sake, I made sure you got a decent place to live for not that much money in return. And you're saying you can't pay rent this month?" He continues as he takes a slight step in your direction. "You taking my kindness for granted again? Is that what this is?" 

"No, it's not. I just-"

"That's exactly what it is. You see, that's the problem with you and every other bitch that works for me. You take, and take, and fucking take some more!" Ryuji yells, making you flinch. You back away as he gets closer to you. "I ask very little from you, all I want is for you to look pretty and keep that cash flowing. Is that really to much to fucking ask for!?" 

"N-No!" Your voice cracks. "I just, I can't pay it off this month I-"

"Shut the fuck up!" Ryuji grabs your wrist and pulls you close to him. You wince as you felt his iron tight grip on your wrist. "So tell me, why the fuck can't you pay it this month? You've paid it off every other month? What the fuck is so different now!?" You didn't know what came over you, but you said something that you would surely regret after. 

"Because I can't pay the rent and pay my debt off to you at the same time! Especially since you keep raising my debt!" 

You raised your voice at him. You knew better. Everyone knew better. As soon as you finished saying it, your heart dropped. The look on Ryuji's face was enough to send a chill down your spine. Before you could apologize, you felt his hand across your face. The blow was enough to knock you down to the ground. The pain was quick to follow. There was a throbbing sensation in your cheek. Ryuji towered over you. "When did you get the nerve to speak to me like that? Huh?" He reached down and yanked your head up by the roots of your hair. You cry out in pain and reach up at his wrist, trying to pull his hand away.

Another mistake. Ryuji delivered a swift kick to your gut, knocking you back. Since he was holding onto your hair, he took a few strands of it as you were kicked away. You coughed and wheezed roughly as you clutched your stomach. Tears poured out of your eyes, you could hear him walking towards you. You whined and pleaded for him to stop, but he wouldn't. 

He never does. 

He grabbed you by your shirt collar and yanked you up onto your feet, if he wasn't keeping you in his grasp, you would have fell right back down. "Don't you ever talk to me like that again." He says lowly. "Understand?" You nod, a choked sob leaving you. You slurred out a pitiful "I'm sorry" before he lets go of you, you fall to your knees. Ryuji sighs heavily as he runs his hand through his hair. "You know, I don't like having to do this. But you've got to learn, one way or another. You're my favorite girl, and it pains me to have to keep reminding you to behave." He continues. "I'm a fair man. If you really can't pay rent. I can think of another way you can make up for it." You don't say a word, only whines and sniffling came from you. 

You knew what he was talking about. Anytime you had struggles paying him back, he would think of alternative ways of payment. You hated it every time, but hell, you might as well get use to it. It's your job after all. "Pull yourself together." Ryuji tells you. "You know I hate it when you cry." He says with fake gentleness. He reaches a hand down, offering it to you. You flinch away at first, but slowly take hold of his hand. He helps you to stand before cupping your sore cheek with his free hand. You wince. "Oh, baby, why do you make me do it?" He sighs. 

"I'm...I'm sorry." You whimper. "Don't be sorry, be better." He tells you before pulling you close in a hug. "Now, let's forget this all happened? Ok? I'm gonna make all that pain go away." You nod, blinking away a few tears. Next the thing you knew, he was leading you to your bedroom. 

You look out of the window. It was a pretty night tonight, the stars were shining bright, the moon was full. It sent a calming light into your bedroom. You felt a bit colder than usual, but that was because your heater started to fuck up. And...you were naked of course. Your body covered in bruises and scratches, you ached, you felt sick. You always felt like this after nights like these. Nights with him...always ended like this. With you in pain, and with him always getting dressed to leave you all alone. But, you wanted to be alone right now. 

"Considered your rent paid off sweet thing." Ryuji says with a smirk after he finishes getting dressed. "But don't think you can get off free like this every month." He begins to walk out of the door. "Oh and one more thing." He turns his head slightly to face you. "Don't you ever be late getting back here again. Got it?" Wordlessly, you nod your head. "Good. See you around sweet thing." Ryuji says before leaving finally. 

You sigh shakily before getting out of bed, you wince at the ache in your body. Ryuji was all but gentle. That's for damn sure. You slowly drag yourself to your bathroom to clean yourself up. You looked into the mirror. Your face was already bruised from the hit you took earlier. You look down at your stomach, a bigger bruise there. You weren't too worried about what others would think about this. The people you see wouldn't care as long as they got a good fuck. The other girls had bruises themselves. And it's not like anyone else would care to ask if you were ok, not in this part of the city at least. 

After you finish washing off you went back to your bedroom. You walked over to your nightstand table and opened the drawer. You pulled out a joint and lighter then sat down on your bed. You lit the joint and took a few puffs. This usually helped you relax after a tough night, but, tonight was very different. You saw your dead best friend for the first time in two years, and he turned out to be a villain with a self harming quirk. He looked nothing like his old self, not one bit. The only thing that stayed the same about him was his eyes. 

You've always loved his eyes. You even told him how jealous you were and wished you had pretty eyes like his back then. There was always so much life in his eyes, and now, there was nothing. Like, any ounce of joy and hope was drained from him. You couldn't help but wonder, what had happed to him before he "died" that day. It must have been something pretty fucked up to have made him turn out the way he did. 

You finished off the joint, and still didn't feel relaxed. Sleeping wouldn't help much either, Dabi still flooded your mind. Another ache hit you, this time inside of your chest. You shut you eyes tightly and try to block out any thoughts of him. But, it would not work. 

The walls were paper thin as well, you could hear everything. To your left, it sounded like what seemed to be a heated argument between two people. To your right, someone was blasting loud music. You swore you recognized the band, Deftones maybe? This place would drive you fucking insane if you lived here. But, honestly, you've seen worse. You heard the man shut the door behind you. You turned to him and spoke. 

"Alright, let's get on with it." You say as you walk closer to him. You reach down to the waist line of his pants and began to pull them down. But, he stopped you by grabbing onto your hand. Annoyed, you looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. "Problem?" You ask. Instead of answering, the man just stared at you. You let out a huff. "Look creep, if you don't want me to do anything, why did you-"

"You've changed." He said suddenly. "What?" You ask. He leans down a bit to get a better view of your face. He smirked. "Yeah, it's you alright. But, different." Finally having enough, you jerked your hand away and made for the door. Fuck this. You don't get paid enough to deal with weirdos. Just as you placed your hand on the door handle, you felt yourself being roughly spun around, and back pressed against the door. You look up the man, who had his hands on each side of your head. "Did I say you could leave?" 

You clicked your tongue. "What? You gonna kill me now? Cause I got news for you, my boss will know. He'll see that I haven't came back and he'll send his band of motherfuckers after me. And when they find you hacking my body to pieces, or however you prefer to maim your victims, they'll be on your ass for taking away the boss' most prized whore." You tell him, never breaking eye contact. The man began to laugh. "You think I won't kill them too?" 

You just shrug. "You got a death wish? Do you even know who you're talking to right now?" The man asks. "Yeah, I know." You say. "Dabi right? League of Villains, and all that. I just don't give a fuck. I came here to do my thing and get paid, I don't really care who the money is coming from. Pretty sure I explained this to you already?" Dabi's smirk faltered slightly. "So, you're not scared of dying? Is that it?" He asked. You sigh. "Look, we can go back and forth like this, asking each other questions all night long. But, that's not my job. I don't get paid to make conversation. I get paid to please freaky fuckers like you, then I go home. So, for the last time. Are you going to let me do my job or not?" 

Dabi sighs as well before finally backing off of you. "You really have changed." He says before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a stack of cash. Your eyes widened slightly. That's the most you've seen in a while. He then hands it to you. You look at it before taking it slowly. "But...I haven't done anything?" You say, not taking your eyes off the money. "You clearly want it. Just take it." Dabi mutters. You pocket the money before looking up at him. "I've changed? The fuck does that mean?" 

"Thought you didn't get paid to make conversation." Dabi looks at you with a small smirk. You roll your eyes. "You talk a lot of shit, acting like you know me." You say to him, a bit of venom lacing your tone. "Maybe I do." Dabi shrugs. "Yeah right. We met twenty minutes ago jackass." You scowl. "So don't act like you know me, when you don't know shit!" 

"I know more about you than you think." Dabi says, his deep eyes staring into your own. "Name one." You challenge. 

"I know, that you had a perfect life. You had money, you were at the top of your class, everyone adored you." You felt a wave of shock hit you as he spoke. How did he...

"Then your parents got murdered. You were sent into foster care. And now, you work the streets for some dickhead who treats you like shit." You felt your heart drop. How the fuck did he know all of this? 

"And I know that, you had a best friend. He was always by your side. Until one day...he died."

"Stop!" You finally say. "How...How do you know this!?" Dabi chuckled. "So, it really is you then. Never thought we'd cross paths again, yet, here we are." What the fuck was he talking about? You've never met him until today. You would remember meeting Dabi of all fucking people on more than one occasion. "I understand why you wouldn't recognize me. I fucked myself up pretty bad." Dabi continues. "Take a good look at me, piece it together." You stared at him for a moment, growing more and more confused by the second until it hit you.

That hair...those eyes. You felt your legs go weak, your whole body trembled. No...There was no way it was him...But, the more you stare, it began to make sense. Of course he knew about you, because he was...

"Toya." 

His name left you in a hushed whisper. Dabi chuckled. "There it is. I know this might be a lot to take in. But, try to keep it together. I can't have the whole world knowing I-" Dabi was cut off as he suddenly felt you tackling him in a hug. He was nearly sent falling over, but managed to catch himself. He started to push you away, but stopped as he heard your soft sniffling and felt your shoulders shaking. He stood there, letting you hug him. He wasn't sure what to do otherwise. You slowly lift your head, moving your hands up to place them on his cheeks gently. Dabi flinches but settled slowly. 

"Toya...It's you...It's really you..." You look into his eyes, the same deep blue eyes you remembered from back then. But, everything else about him was so...different. His hair, once flaming red now a dark inky black. He was covered with deep burn scars. His soft voice now low and raspy. No wonder you didn't recognize him at first. "What...What the fuck!?" Now, you were angry. You felt a lot of things actually. You were happy, you were sad, you angry, you were relieved, you were hurt. 

"What the fuck!?" You say again. "You're suppose to be dead! You can't be here! You can't!" You words came out in choked sobs. Dabi puts his hand on the back of your head gently, and pushes it against his chest. "I know. I'm not suppose to be here. I am suppose to be dead." He starts. "But, that's not what life had planned out for me." He looks down at you. "I could say the same for you too. You didn't chose this, did you?" 

You didn't answer him, you just shut your eyes tightly. Trying not to remember that night. That night your life was changed for the worst. "You said I changed. You're right. But you have too." You pull back to look up at him again. "What happened?" You ask, firmness in your tone. Dabi sighed. "I never talked about my family much to you back then, and for good reason. I didn't want you to know what was going on. I didn't want you involved with my shit." He starts. "Something...bad happened before I "died". Something I'll never be able to forget. As long as I live, I will never forget...I'll never forgive. In a way, I did die that day. And was reborn, into...well, this." 

"And those?" You say, looking at his scars. "Who did this?" Dabi let out a short weak laugh. "I did. I did this to myself." He tells you. "What? How?" You ask. "My quirk, the more I use it, well, I get some new burn marks." He explains. That's awful, has it always been like this? You could only imagine how painful it must be. "Does it hurt?" You ask as you carefully touch his scarred wrist with your finger tips. "No. Can't feel anything anymore." Dabi says dully. It still didn't make sense to you. How did this happen? How did it come to this? 

The two of you fell into silence for a while. Just, being in each others company. Eventually the two of you moved to the, rather uncomfortable, couch. Still, neither of you spoke. You didn't really know what to say, despite the thousands of questions swarming in your head. And Dabi, you could say he felt the same. But eventually, you were the first to break the silence.

"So, you became a villain?" You ask suddenly. "Yeah." Dabi muttered before pulling out a cigarette from his pocket. He held the end up to his thumb, and it sparked to life with heat. He brought it to his lips and took a long drag before passing it to you. You take it and take a few puffs yourself before handing it back. "It's weird." You start. "Who would have thought? Well behaved, friendly, and kind hearted Toya would become one of the most wanted villains alive?" Dabi just hummed before taking another drag of the cigarette. 

"You asked a lot of questions tonight. I feel like I should get a turn." Dabi says, glancing at you. "Shoot." You say with a shrug. "How did you get mixed up with this kind of...profession?" He asked, making you frown. "I didn't have a choice." You continue. "I needed money, otherwise I was going to die on the streets. No one was willing to help me, except him..." Dabi stays quiet. You didn't really know what kind of reaction you expected from him. But somehow, the silence was worse. 

All of a sudden, your phone buzzed. Dread filled you as you already knew who it was. You grab your phone and look at the screen. It was Ryuji, of course, demanding you come back now. You sigh heavily before standing up from the couch. Dabi watched you as you head for the door. "Well, this has been...something. Catching up on an old friend who was supposedly dead." You reach for the doorknob but paused when you heard Dabi walking up behind you. "Don't go." You heard him say. Your grip on the doorknob tightens. You wish you didn't have to. You really wish you didn't have to, but, you knew the consequences would be dire if you didn't do as you were told. 

"Like I said. I don't have a choice." You mutter. Before you leave, you turn to Dabi. "Before I go, I have to ask. How did you find me? Or was it just luck that we stumbled across each other?" 

"I have my ways." Dabi smirks. You couldn't help but crack a smile. "You really are a creep." Your smile started to fade. "Bye Toya." Dabi's smirk fell as well. "Don't make it sound like I'm going to disappear again. And you should really start calling me Dabi. Can't have people finding out who I am, you know?" You nod before walking out of the door. "Alright, see you around then? Dabi." 

"Yeah, see you around." 

You and Dabi stare at each other for a moment before you slowly shut the door. You begin to walk away, as you made your way deeper into the city, your mind was filled to the brim with thoughts of Toya. Or, Dabi rather. You couldn't believe it. That your once best friend, is not only back from the dead, but a wanted villain now. Life really wasn't kind. Not if someone as sweet as Toya could turn out like he did.

He lived in a very lavish home, you knew he had money, but you didn't think it was like this. He invited you in, and let you clean yourself up in the shower before joining him in the living room. "Comfortable?" He asks. You nod while moving strand of your still wet hair out of your face. "Good, good." Ryuji smiles. "Now, I wanted to talk to you about a few things." He starts. "I know you don't want to go back to living on the streets. Especially on nights like this, right?"

"I don't have a choice." You tell him. "Oh? But you do." Ryuji says. "I know a place that is hiring, and you'd be perfect for the job." You look to him. "Really?" You ask. "Yes, and I can get you that job real quick. In the morning, I'm taking you to get some clothes and to a salon. Sound good?"

"Why are you doing all this?" You ask him. Ryuji's smile grows. "I live to help people. I couldn't bare the though of you dying in those streets all alone. Not when I could do something to help." You wanted to question him more, but you were exhausted. "Come on." Ryuji leads you to the guest bedroom. "You can stay here for as long as you need." You walk into the bedroom and crawl onto the bed. You thank him before exhaustion took over completely and you fell asleep.

In the morning, Ryuji kept his word and took you to the salon and bought some clothes for you. You were starting to look like your old self again. You felt like a brand new person. When you got back, Ryuji had ordered dinner for the both of you. You had a roof over your head, good meals, new clothes and you were going to start a new with that job Ryuji got for you. It was all so perfect.

"Ryuji, I don't know how I could thank you for all of this." You say with a smile. Ryuji looks up from his plate, he grins. "I know a way." He stands from his seat and walks over to you. He places his hand on your shoulder. "I've spent quite a lot on you." He starts. "That trip to the salon, those clothes, the food. None of it's cheap you know?" You felt his grip on your shoulder tighten slightly. "So, you could thank me by, oh I don't know...paying me back?" You blink, speechless. "Pay you back?" You ask. "That's right." Ryuji nods. Was he serious?

"But, I don't...I don't have any money." You tell him. "Oh I know. That's what this new job is for." He says. "It's going to help you pay back every cent you owe."

"Wait a minute." You start. "I thought you were doing this to help me? You never said anything about me having to pay you back before!" Ryuji chuckles. "Oh I am helping you. I helped you off those streets, didn't I? And you're the one who wants to thank me, right? Then this is how you can do it." Before you could argue further he speaks again. "Oh and, you start your first day on the job tonight."

"Where am I working?" You ask him. "Ironically enough, you'll be working the street corners." He laughed. Your heart dropped at his insinuation. "You mean...You want me to be a..."

"A hooker? Yeah, something like that." You angrily push his hand off of your shoulder before storming towards his door. "Fuck that, and fuck you!" You yell before reaching for the door handle. However, Ryuji beat you to it. He grabbed your wrist and slammed you against the door, his hand wrapped around your neck. You let out a coked gasp as you try to wriggle out of his clutch.

"Now listen here." Ryuji's once kind demeanor was long gone, now replaced with something much darker. "I take time out of my busy schedule for you, offer you a place to stay, buy you nice clothes, feed you, and even give you a chance to make some money...and you're going to just storm out on me like that? No, no you don't get to do that. You don't get to take my kindness for granted." His hold on your throat tightens. You felt tears prick at your eyes as you desperately try to take a breath. "Now, you're going to be a good girl and do what you're told. Otherwise, I'll have to get a little mean. Got it?"

You try your best to nod. He finally lets go, you fall to your knees wheezing and coughing, trying to suck in as much air as you can. "Good. Then I think we understand each other. I want that money by the end of the month. Now pull yourself together, you got work to do."

That was two years ago. Ever since then you've worked as a prostitute for Ryuji. And about the money you owe him, the first go around you weren't able to pay him back. So, he increased it, much to your dismay. And he's been increasing it ever since, it's only becoming harder and harder to pay off your debt. You've almost given up entirely. Two years, and you still haven't been able to escape. And escape you've tried. But you never got far. Somehow, someway, Ryuji, or his men, would always find you and bring you back. Where you were met with harsh punishments.

It didn't make paying Ryuji back any easier when you needed to buy things for yourself. Like clothes, hygienic products, and food. Ryuji actually bought you a phone, and of course, he expected you pay that off as well. He'd call you every so often to check in with you, especially after trying to leave so many times. He also got you a room in an apartment, and yes, he expected rent every month as well.

Tonight, you were working late. Your last "costumer" left you in a bad mood. You'd get rude people sometimes who would pay you less than what you actually worked for. You didn't want to see anyone else, but you were short some and needed more money to give to Ryuji. You sighed heavily before taking a long drag of your cigarette. Your head fell back against the hard brick wall you were leaning against and closed your eyes. That's when you heard a deep voice speak to you.

"Hey. You all alone?"

You open your eyes and look over to the source of the voice. The person standing across from you, was a man. A tall, heavily scarred man. You raise an eyebrow at his question. "Am I all alone?" You repeat. "What kind of fucking question is that you creep?" Your hand slipped down to your skirt pocket. You always kept something on you when you worked. A small knife, pepper spray, stuff like that. You couldn't fight very well, but you weren't going down without a fight. That's for damn sure.

"Heh, sorry. Yeah, that sounded weird. But I'm sure you're use to creeps like me right?" He stepped closer. You narrowed your eyes. "So...what? You just gonna stand there looking freaky, or are you going to take me back to your place?" You say as you cross your arms. The man smirked. "Maybe." He grew closer. "You take villains like me?" You roll your eyes. "As long as I'm getting paid, I don't give a fuck who you are or what you're about. Now you're wasting my time, either get on with it or get lost."

The man was right in front of you now. "I could hurt you. Kill you even. You aren't scared?" You look up at him with a bored expression. "You'll be doing me a favor. Now you got money or what?" The man laughed. "Sure. Afraid I don't have the nicest of places though. Does that bother you?"

Life has never been kind to you, but since when has life been known for being kind? You were promised a bright future just like everyone else, and yet like for so many others, things couldn't have gone worse for you. It started when you were high school at the age of seventeen. You had a lot of pressure put on you from the very start of your educational course. You were expected to be at the top of your class with perfect grades. You were to live up to your parent's standards that has been set for you from an early age. Your parents were both very wealthy and successful people, a stain on the family name would ruin their reputation.

You were to behave and preform perfectly without any exceptions.

Plenty of people admired you, envied you. You had lots of friends, you had money, you were fairly popular at school, and you had great looks to add to it all. And for being quirkless, well, everything else made up for it. Otherwise, you'd be treated like some sort of freak show. And aside from strict parents, your life was going pretty well.

That is until your family's business went bankrupt.

They were loosing money and fast. Their reputations ruined. All their hard work was for nothing. You could do nothing but watch as your parents grew more desperate, more hopeless and depressed. It was then, when your parents struggled to keep the lights on and put food on the table, that you decided to work harder. You would study harder to get into a good collage and find a job jut as successful and well paying as your parent's business. You'd be what brought your family back to the top.

But this would come with great sacrifice. Because you put more effort into your studies and schooling, you lost many of your friends. But you could live with that. You could always make more friends. But there was one friend that you had that never left you. He was you best friend, he stuck with you from the very beginning. He was popular too due to his family status, but he never cared about that. He didn't act like he was better than anyone else. He was just, himself. Kind, honest, caring. That was what drew you to him. He always made sure you were ok, that you were happy.

But one day, he didn't come to school for a while. You couldn't get into contact with him. Then you heard the news, and it crushed you. Your best friend, had died. Because of his family, news of his death was everywhere, it couldn't be hidden from the public. Though, one thing was kept private. And that was the cause of his death. Not knowing what happened only made you more upset. You would mourn for weeks. You had to stop thinking about it, or it would have driven you insane. So, you went back to pouring all of your attention into school.

Solely focusing on school work would take a toll on your mental health as well. You'd be staying up later at night, barely eating, only taking a break from your work to use the bathroom. And your parent didn't see a problem with this. If anything, they encouraged what you were doing.

You made them happy doing this. Fine. If that is what it takes, to keep some hope within them. You'd do it. But, more sacrifice would come from this.

Your grades began to suffer. Not sleeping resulted in you sleeping during class. You could barely pay any attention to the lessons without getting overwhelmed or exhausted. Mentally, and physically. Your parents did not like this. They began to lecture you, well, more like yell at you. Blaming your failing grades on you not putting in more effort. Not trying hard enough. Your mental health was near it's breaking point. And just when you thought things couldn't get any worse...

On your way home, walking from school, you noticed several police cars outside of your house. You were stopped by a police officer, telling you to stay back. Panic filled you, you told the officer that this was your home and desperately asked where your parents were. What your were told next, destroyed you.

Your parents had been murdered.

And things only got worse from there. You were forced into foster care. Your mental health worsened. Grades only getting worse. Eventually, you dropped out of school all together. It's not like you were present every day, you didn't pay attention in class. Your teachers would try to talk with you, but it never helped. The foster care you were placed in wasn't very good either. The children and teens were in the same or worse situations than you. So you could imagine that things were very lively. You couldn't get along with any of them. The adults weren't nice either, they wanted to get rid of as many of the children and teens as possible. They could care less about your well being or anyone else's.

You couldn't get a job anywhere. You were just...stuck.

Stuck in a terrible situation. With no way out.

When you turned eighteen you left foster care, you couldn't take being there anymore. You tried looking for work anywhere, but you were turned away every time. So, alone without any help. You were damned to live on the streets. But that would be short lived. One night, you were approached by a man. He was tall, good looking, friendly smile. You didn't pay much attention to him, you figured he might give you a little money like a few others who would pass you by. But instead, he talked with you.

"Hello." He started. "I'm sorry for approaching you out of nowhere but, I just couldn't ignore you." He says with a light chuckle. You still ignored him. Another creep, you assumed. You would see them sometimes. Weirdos on the streets cat calling you, making passes at you. "I must ask. How could someone as cute as you be on the streets? With no where to go?" He crouched down to your level. You looked up from your knees to face him finally. You were silent for a moment before speaking. "It's a long story." Was all you said. The man hummed as he nods his head. "Yes, that's the answer I usually get."

"Say, why don't I get you something to eat? You look hungry." You shook your head. "Not interested." You sure as hell weren't going to trust him. He really could be a creep. "I understand. You sit tight, I'll be right back." You looked back down as he walked away from you. About thirty minutes later, you began to drift off to sleep. It was then you heard the man again. You looked up, and saw him standing there with a take out bag in his hand. He sat it in front of you. "I didn't know what you would like. So I just got you a burger and fries." You stare at the bag for a moment. "You drugged it didn't you?" You mutter, causing the man to laugh. "No. I didn't." He moved to sit next to you.

You continued to stare at the bag for a little longer before you felt your stomach rumble. Since when was the last time you ate? You sighed deeply before opening the bag and grabbing the burger. You took a bite and waited. He was right, it wasn't drugged. So, you ate greedily. It was the best burger you've had. There was nothing but crumbs by the time you finished the meal off. The man next to you smiled. "Better?" He asks. You nod and wipe your mouth. "Thank you." You say under your breath. "Why though?"