dream is a killer

          Dabi’s unexpected presence in the room injected the scare of a life time into Masaki as he forced one eye open to greet the world of the living ensuing weeks of convalescing and mostly sleep. The painful sting of stitched skin straining and muscles kick starting again after a long stretch of bed rest dragged a low groan from the archer as he jolted up from sheer surprise, deeply regretting that course of action and slumping back onto the mattress seconds later with a thwump! Note to self, avoid sudden movements for now. 

          With a slow crane of his neck, Masaki rolled his head towards Dabi, confusion riddling his expression; mostly over how the other had managed to infiltrate his room on top of wondering how long he’d been sat there, lingering by his bedside. It was slightly creepy, but befitting of his mysterious acquaintance, and the offer of an apple soon scrawled a smile along his lips despite the oddity of their situation.

❝An apple will do fine.❞ Masaki laughed, reaching for the fruit though he doesn’t bite into it yet.

❝You’re probably hungry too, right?❞ Why else would he be here afterall.

❝As you can imagine, I haven’t been cooking, but there should be take out in the fridge. You can help yourself, though I doubt someone who breaks into people’s apartments is the type to need permission.❞ 

❝How did you get in?❞ 

Surprisingly enough, Dabi isn’t hungry. He knows he only ever breaks into Masaki’s apartment when he’s absolutely starving but today isn’t going to be one of those days. He already had a heavy breakfast earlier which consisted of an apple of his own which he stole along with his gift to the archer. So with that, he’s good for the day. He’d give himself a day or two before he winds up demanding for Masaki’s culinary services once again.

He sighs and presses his elbow on the edge of the bed, resting his head on the palm of his hand and eyeing the bandage cloaked around his companion’s middle. He mentally defies the urge to poke the guy’s injury no matter how tempting it is. He can still remember how morbid the display was when he first laid his eyes on the wound and to think he’s the main cause of it sends a tingle to his fingertips.

It sucks that he wasn’t there to actually witness the incident but at least he still made it to the show and was graced with the display of a grotesque blood-soaked spectacle.

“You don’t need me. Nobody needs me. I’m going to destroy the world, and then myself, and nobody will miss me when it’s all over.” Shigaraki said as flippantly as always, he probably wasn’t going to earn Dabi’s respect like that. 

It was hard to keep staring into Dabi’s eyes. Dabi saw, desolation, everything burning. It hurt like seared flesh, boiling and sizzling but Shigaraki was no stranger to pain. Shigaraki wondered idly for a moment what the two of them were going to do. They were just standing there talking, but they were both so volatile Shigaraki felt if one of them touched the other the sparks from the contact would light a fire.

Would they try to kill each other again like the very first time they met? 

Shigaraki tilted his head so far it almost looked like his neck was broken. He idly brought up a finger and scratched his neck.

“The league needs you because you’re the only one who has a vision of what to do when we get past all of this. Do whatever you want. If you don’t want to play at being friends, fine… Even if you’re just using the league for your own ends I’ll allow it.”

Shigaraki stopped scratching his own neck, and held his palm up in front of Dabi. He opened and closed his hand, curling his fingers like he was squashing a bug. 

“But, no matter what you’re still my right hand. I trust you. Even if it means trusting you to light my ass on fire if I screw up too badly.”

❝Sheesh, have you been watching soap operas? ‘Cause this is starting to sound like one. Did Toga or Twice put you up to this?❞ If Shigaraki refuses to see that he’s needed by the league, then it’s not Dabi’s job to try and convince him. It probably wouldn’t be wise to somewhat trust and follow someone who doesn’t think his own people need him but who else is going to take charge of their group of misfits? Certainly not that crazy chick. Or that Stain cosplayer. Or Magic Marble Man. Not even that two-faced dumbfuck. Shigaraki is his best bet; at least for now.

But it’s so fucking weird to be engaging himself in this type of conversation. Why is his leader getting all feelsy with him now? Is this what they mean when people say absence makes the heart grow fonder? 

Gross.

Still, being referred to as the leader’s right-hand man does add fuel to his already burning ego. Not that he’s in competition with anyone else seeing that he’s associated with a bunch of deranged morons. The appreciation is... nice though. Dabi would have preferred hearing it with Shigaraki on his knees, begging for his mercy. But that’s another daydream for another day.

it reeks like fire, something being burnt down. and the scent was disgusting. for one second he really assumed it would be himself, but that’s not the case. he didn’t have a nicotine stick all day, so the scent has to come from somewhere else.

not even that, it smells like burnt paper mixed with other things he can truly not decipher.

looking around the area, he could find a taller guy standing in front of an open fire. perhaps this must be the culprit.

‘ oyyy!!! ’ he shouts, approaching the guy, ‘ it fuckin’ reeks! ’

just for once chuuya would actually start caring, because the scent stings in his nose, and he hates it so much.

@kizuatto​ ;;

Does this satiate his thirst for setting a match to something and watching it be reduced to nothing but ashes? Not really. The absence of agonized screams sort of ruins what could have been an exquisite view to lay his eyes upon. He does hear a scream though, but it’s not of one filled with sheer anguish.

No, this one sounds like an unnecessary inconvenience.

❝And?❞ He takes a quick drag from his cigarette before directing his eyes to the advancing redhead who appears to have a perpetual scowl curling his lips. He turns out to be a lot shorter now that he’s standing nearby, much to Dabi’s slight surprise. The guy sure has a lot of audacity for someone the pyromaniac could just easily flick away.

@kizuatto​

He wasn’t going to share, yet she wanted to know. She was curious about Dabi and she wonders….is Dabi also curious about me? If he was, she had no problem telling him some things. Hopefully they can share, she wanted to share. SHE wanted to share with all her friends. She didn’t know much about Badou or even Ryuu, but they do, she wanted to get to know. She’s aware that talking about the past is never easy. For her, it’s pretty simple. She has no problem talking about the scars on her hand, on her entire body. She has no problem talking about Lunacy and she has no trouble talking about the facility she was raised in. BUT that doesn’t mean it’s easy. 

Anyway, 

her wanting to get to know about Dabi has led her to just that. talking about her scars. 

“My body is pretty gnarly actually,” She had said before, “It’s got punctures from needles and burns from back when I was being tested on.” How one says this with no quiver in the voice was baffling. Kachina is sure he’s seen her hands. The stitches, the burns. “I use to wear gloves to cover my hands. These stitches goes all over my body too, just like the burn scars.” Looking at Dabi, she then asks, “Does yours hurt sometime or…?” She doesn’t feel any pain with her’s. 

❝Well, shit...❞ is all Dabi could say to Kachina’s casual mention of all the flaws that marred her skin. He honestly doesn’t have much to say; not when he already has a fair share of his own scars. Seeing several on someone else isn’t that much of a bizarre sight to him. That doesn’t stop his eyes from lingering though. Those scars don’t seem to bother the girl as much as they should— at least maybe not anymore. A human experiment. He knows enough about that to not ask too many questions.

Not that he’s interested in learning more. The fact that she was wronged by people of power is good enough of a detail to get the idea of how much shit she had to go through.  He doesn’t return his companion’s stare when she asked him about his own scars. Instead, he lets out a drowsy yawn and a stretch of his arms.

@kizuatto​

Normally, the smell of fire and smoke that lingered around Dabi was something that did not bother her. Yet, now, as she fled from those same flames that were obviously directed at her, Himiko’s opinion clearly shifted.

“…!!”

She was quick, but so was Dabi. In the confusion of her own predicament, she had sought out all the members of the League, hoping that they could help her. Yet, she had been disappointed, as she had been glared at, just like how the League viewed all heroes. Despite any attempts to speak with him, to explain, were futile.

Himiko should have expected that; Dabi was not a merciful man, after all.

❝What’s wrong, hero? Getting cold feet already?❞ He has four uses left for his quirk and the arsonist is very well determined to use each one wisely. He always thought he and the league are batshit insane but perhaps this chick has the potential to be one of them if approaching him out of nowhere in request for his help despite their wide range of differences is any indication. 

Did she really think he’d cooperate with the likes of her just because they’re stuck here together? 

“What. The power of friendship is good enough for the heroes. I thought you liked heroes, oh so much.” 

Shigaraki bit down hard on his tongue before saying anything else. The temptation is there but he realized, both he and Dabi had talked plenty of times before this, weeks, months, all spent together and yet it felt like they had never had a real conversation. They were just both so used to smiling in the face of pain that they had to play everything off like it didn’t hurt them. 

Dabi had already told him once he didn’t care about his leader’s feelings, he was just here to follow his missions. Still, if Dabi were to leave right now he was sure it would be like cutting off his own right hand. How to express that? When Shigaraki didn’t have feelings anymore, just numbess, a lack of feeling, and dead nerves undnerneath his skin. 

“I don’t remember you bending over backwards. I remember you running off whereever you wanted to and me letting you, because…” 

Shigaraki bit so hard down on his tongue he started to taste blood. He swallowed it down. Just like Dabi seemed to breathe smoke at time, Shigaraki felt like he was always swallowing toxic fumes and it made him want to spit up. 

“I don’t need your quirk, and I don’t need your goddamn bad attitude, but I need you. Do you not understand? Or… do you not need anybody?”  Shigaraki said, a manic smile spreading on his lips. It was the exact opposite of what he was feeling. 

What a way to discredit someone you need, leader. Dabi sees no point in saying those words though. He isn’t particularly offended that his leader doesn’t see the fact that he does follow orders; he’s just rather selective of which ones to follow and even when he does choose to run off to do his own bidding, he still winds up getting tangled in whatever webbed bullshit Shigaraki has woven.

Shigaraki may have cemented into everyone else’s brains that he’s their leader— the alpha male, the destined ruler of the underworld, or whatever title he thinks that could make him seem assertive— he still has yet to prove to Dabi that he really is what he claims to be. Dabi respects him for his ambitions and his promise to free the league from the unjust cruelty society had struck them with, but having ambitions and being useful are still two completely different things. Letting him do whatever he pleases is nothing but a sign that Shigaraki doesn’t know how to handle someone like him, or at least that’s how Dabi sees it. It could be a sign of trust too but he takes a very dim view of that. 

He arches a brow at Shigaraki’s words that are just a touch too desperate in contrast to the frenzied grin dawning on dried lips. A smile of his own creeps up on Dabi’s features.

@kizuatto​ // s.c.

||  █ ▌— ❝ oh, i’m so sorry! ❞

hifumi neatly sidesteps the other man, dropping and barely catching the cup of coffee he’d been carrying. too little too late, however, as he manages to avoid dropping the cup, but spills the coffee all over the ground… and a little onto the man’s shoes. hifumi grins awkwardly. it’s–not really a real smile, more the sort of forced expression one gets in an uncomfortable situation.

still, he looks sheepish, something like apologetic. ❝ oopsies… ❞

❝Hm?❞ Dabi’s reaction comes a second or two late as he looks down at the spilled coffee coating the tip of his boot. Perhaps wearing a mask over his scars to blend in worked too well, if being apparently invisible to this guy is anything to go by. Drowsy cerulean hues look up to meet golden ones framed by long lashes.

Himiko stopped mid bite, freezing at Dabi’s words. She hadn’t exactly been recruiting people, at least not in the way Dabi must have interpreted her words.

“Wellllll.”

She started to talk, but it was clear that she was avoiding Dabi’s eye. She wanted to clear up any misunderstanding, but, admitting that she was still quite uncooperative and terrible at recruitment wasn’t ideal.

“Tomura-kun is better at recruiting than me…”

A long moment passed, and even Himiko could not deal with such an awkward air for very long. Dabi wasn’t wrong, of course; she could be useful when she desired, but her interpretation of the word differed from his.

“I usually just end up… stabbing them. Tomura-kun doesn’t let me do any recruiting alone anymore.”

And even then, the possibility of her stabbing a possible recruit was high. Himiko decided to keep that part to herself. She was frowning now, but soon continued eating the food she’d scavenged. The ice cream was getting mushy.

“Hm?” Now she met his eye, and continued to talk after swallowing. “Uhhhh. Tomura-kun says it’s people who think like the League does, that want to live freely.”

That was how Himiko felt, not necessarily the League. She paused, for another moment before speaking again.

“Like, I met this one guy who’s huge. Not as big as Machia, but pretty big. He’s involved with some gang, but they’re not like those yakuza. I think he’s like us.”

❝Stabbing them, huh? Why am I not surprised?❞ He’s not sure what to feel about Toga’s lack of development in terms of maturity. He figured she had gone far with her incessant desire to stab people at this point but she clearly still has a long way to go. He can’t exactly bring about Stain’s will to reality when one of his comrades isn’t doing her damn job. Maybe he should step in and whip her into shape; perhaps then she’d take this more seriously.

But then again, what’s the point of bringing sense to an unhinged mind? 

No, he’s not going to waste his time on that. 

He, on the other hand, can now pride himself in the fact that he can actually resist burning anyone he deems trash. Of course, today is an exception but he’d like to think he deserves this little treat every now and then.

At least Shigaraki still keeps her on a leash. The last thing they need right now is drawing attention to themselves. Nothing good will come out of scheming for escape when the assholes behind this city end up coming for them. He just hopes siding with the GPU will be good enough of a shortcut for them to head back to where they’re supposed to be.

He finishes up his first onigiri and starts unwrapping his second one, his attention still on the crazy chick’s dawdling explanation. 

“Don’t stare at me like I’ve been doing nothing the whole time. I’m not that much of a lazy asshole.” Shigaraki knew Dabi was not the most expressive person. In fact they had worked together for so long and Shigaraki didn’t know a single thing about him, besides the fact that he was a Stain Groupie with a terrible fashion sense. Shigaraki was almost impressed. The key to dealing with Dabi was to read between the lines. He was never going to say what he was really feeling. He just kept it all inside of him, and let it burn him. 

“I’ve been gathering allies. There are people with abilities in this city like you’ve never seen before. They make us look like level one noobs.” Shigaraki picked up his pace and walked faster to get ahead of Dabi. He turned around on his heel, and spread his arms wide, carelessly at his sides. The world was spin, spin, spinning and Shigaraki was at the center. “We can’t do shit alone. You’re a charmander, and my decay can’t destroy anything bigger than a small child.” 

Shigaraki stopped spinning, and stood facing Dabi. He was standing in Dabi’s way to be precise. If Dabi kept walking forward they would smack hard into each other. All of Shigaraki’s shit talking. He was trying to provoke a reaction out of Dabi. Dabi’s face was covered in scars, and Shigaraki was exactly the type to pick, and pick at scabs. That was why his face was never going to heal. 

“I need you. I was waiting for you. Do you really think I could change the world alone, Dabi?” 

Just once he wanted to see Dabi’s true feelings.  Even if those feelings might burn him, Shigaraki was ready. 

“If so, then I gotta say I’m really not feeling the power of friendship vibes from you.”

A charred what now? Dabi knows he doesn’t have to ask to find out the guy is most likely referencing a video game— just one of the few things that makes him immature. He can’t deny he’s a bit irked by being referred to as a ‘level one noob’ though. Speak for yourself, Mophead. He strongly believes he’s proven himself enough to be more than what Shigaraki clearly sees him as but he won’t go out of his way to convince him of that. No point in proving anything to someone temporary in his life.

He just watches the other male spin before him and he only realizes now how he missed the entertainment of watching his leader’s theatrical flair for things. For someone who isn’t exactly easy on the eyes, the guy really does know how to put on a show.

And just as expected, Shigaraki expresses his need for the arsonist’s cooperation. Okay, maybe his leader does see his value in the league; he just has a shitty way of showing it sometimes. This exact moment, however, isn’t one of those times and Dabi sighs out the feeling of discomfort coursing through his veins. It’s weird to be told he’s needed; especially when he’s lived his entire life feeling otherwise.

But he’s not going to be naive about this. This guy may be telling him he needs him now but Shigaraki can also be too unpredictable for Dabi to just trust him that easily. No number of sugarcoated words is going to sway him.

Himiko was not always the cooperative sort, she and Dabi did not always get along. Yet, to see a familiar face in this island was something she could not take for granted, especially during such a chaotic time.

Dabi is lucky that Himiko has some sense of manners, lest she begin talking with her mouthful and spewing crumbs in his face. She swallows, her bright smile returning. She loved to talk about all sorts of things, herself being one of her favorite topics.

“We’ve had all sorts of fun, even when weird stuff like this happens!”

“This place is so cool, you know? It’s full of awesome places, and the best part is that there’s hardly any heroes to get in the way!”

She sighs happily, reflecting on all the fun and illegal activity she had gotten up to recently. Shigaraki was sometimes involved, yes, but she was often up to no good all on her own. That wasn’t the question that had been asked, though.

“Tomura-kun and I were working on stuff for the League, too. There’s all sorts of interesting people here who could join us.”

❝Wait a minute, you couldn’t be bothered to help me recruit more members back in our world but you have no problem recruiting people here?❞ He couldn’t think of anyone who he’d deem even remotely interesting, but maybe he hasn’t met these people Toga has. Nobody in this city is worth a spot in the league if he were to base it on the individuals he’s encountered so far. They’re all either too dull or too feeble to be considered as an important piece to the league’s purpose.

And if he has to be brutally honest, he doesn’t trust Toga’s judgment of character. She’s just... so fucking bad at it; to be so infatuated with an aspiring pro hero is something he could never bring himself to understand. Why the hell would she fall for the enemy?

Then again, this crazy chick is the last person he could ever figure out. She’s so peppy and unpredictable that it’s a wonder how he’s managed to tolerate her for this long.

He sighs and takes another bite of his dinner despite the flavor tasting more bitter now that he knows some people can be useful if they choose to be. Toga, in this case, has chosen to be useful now out of all times she could have been. She’s lucky her quirk is necessary to his game plan or he would have already left her to thirst for the most uninteresting heroes.

“I mean there’s really no way out.” She hates to be the bearer of bad news but it was the truth. “You’re pretty much stuck here just like the rest of us until they decide to send us back home.” She walks by him to close the door and lock it. Wouldn’t want anyone else coming in uninvited. Dabi is an exception even though he nearly almost got hurt. If she hadn’t missed, it would have been more than just his cheek. “All you can really do is live day by day and just hope for something I guess.” Still, she makes a mental note to make sure to be around if anything like this happened again. For Dabi, for Badou, for all of her friends. 

“I’ll feed you! Let’s do something!” 

❝That’s... very inspiring. Thanks, I needed that.❞ His words drip with bitter sarcasm, though he can’t tell whether or not his tone will just go over the girl’s head. He’s heard all of that before after all. There’s no way out. We’re all stuck here. Might as well make do with what we have. He genuinely thinks all of that is pure horseshit though because no place is a hundred percent inescapable and the masterminds behind all the bullshit happening here know this. Nobody has just ever bothered to throw down the gauntlet. 

Or maybe someone has. He doesn’t know how long Kachina has been here. Perhaps her words stem from her failed attempts of cutting loose from this place.

Just how long do I have to wait here?

Dabi initially didn’t want to wake Sleeping Beauty up but after five minutes of sitting on the floor next to the bed and just waiting for Masaki to stir awake, his patience is starting to run its course. He stares up at the archer’s soft sleeping features, recalling the severe stab wound the guy had to go through in the middle of that breach security nonsense. Dabi still hasn’t found the chance to tell him that the incident was due to his indiscretion but he does plan on telling him soon.

Maybe after he’s fully recovered. Maybe. Admitting that to Masaki could also mean losing his one and only meal ticket and quite frankly, Dabi isn’t ready to give up warm homemade meals just yet. Tired sapphire eyes trace down to the bandage wrapped around the other male’s middle and he wonders if poking his injury would be enough to jolt him awake. But then his pondering doesn’t last long when he sees Masaki slowly waking up.

❝ Okay, so the fire is useful—that doesn’t mean you’re not cool aside from that. You’re a little less boring than anyone else I’ve met here, so that’s something. ❞ Octavio flips the trash can lid between his hands, rolls it over his shoulders behind his head, tosses it into the air and catches it again; he can’t even stay still while they’re walking. At Dabi’s question, he gives an animated shrug. 

❝ Sure, you could just roast me, but where’s the fun in that? Besides—don’t you want to see if it works? ❞ Trusting wasn’t the word he’d use. He didn’t really trust Dabi, the guy gave off serious ‘bad guy’ vibes, but Octavio’s run with worse crowds. ❝ This city could use some excitement, don’t you think? Everyone’s just so— ❞ He gestured with his hands, and the trash can lid, at the entirety of the city. ❝ —boring! What does anyone even do for fun around here, anyway! It’s time to make my own. ❞

❝Gee, thanks.❞ He’d like to think he’s worth more than being ‘a little less boring’ but is he really going to try and convince this guy that he can be exciting? No, not really. It’s not like Octavio is gonna be around for long. What’s the point of trying to make someone think he’s ‘cool’ when that someone is obviously about to die from a horrific arson 'accident’?

They clearly both have a different understanding of what entertainment is. This guy thinks fun is cheap thrills and performing obnoxiously destructive stunts while Dabi, on the other hand, thinks it’s having a front-row seat to a display of burning bodies. But Octavio is also the only tolerable guy he knows here— not counting Masaki, his meal ticket.