I Don't Smoke (bsdxmha)

Torn, bloody bandages

His head is killing him. Most of the UA teachers rushed to the USJ, but Dazai is quite unsure how they managed to find out that they were being attacked. He's still lying down next to Aizawa in the middle of the plaza. He should probably get up, but everything is aching. God, there's a lot of blood on him.

Maybe he can just...

The water is cold, so cold that his limbs lock up. He throws himself into the man-made lake beside him in an attempt to scrub as much blood off him as he can. The issue is- well his bandages, that are about to come off. Excess blood makes them tear and so does water, so they're basically falling apart. He can't really do much about that, but thank god for the turtleneck part of his outfit. It's a darker grey colour, so if it gets water on it he can disguise the blood. He'll patch his injuries up at home.

He can hear voices around him, younger ones. Midoriya pops his head into Dazai's view and he waves as cheerily as he can. Apparently, he doesn't look great because Midoriya jumps back. Dazai gets up, spitting the blood from his mouth onto the pavement.

"That was so cool of you, I saw the end of the fight and I can't believe you took out that thing!" He gushes, then quickly shakes his hands in front of him. "But-But you were bleeding! And actually flung across the plaza. I'll get a hero to provide medical help-"

"Midoriya, it's great to see you too!" Dazai grabs his classmate's wrist, "I'm barely even hurt, lucky right? It wasn't my blood. Somehow getting thrown gave me the opportunity to land with only some bruising... I have a few scratches yeah, but Aizawa-sensei is the one who took the brunt of the damage." He refers to the man a few metres away from him surrounded by Vlad King and Midnight, trying to minimise the bleeding before paramedics can arrive.

Midoriya rushes to agree with him, crowding Aizawa with tears in his eyes. He guesses Midoriya looks up to the man, which is kind of weird. He doesn't seem to have many good adult figures in his life.

The texture of mushy bandages is really starting to annoy Dazai. He's soaking wet, hurt, and still pissed at Tenko Shimura. What does he call him? Tenko? Shimura, or Shigaraki? Maybe he'll call him Tenko to anger the frustratingly dumb man next time he sees him.

Dazai carefully slinks toward the entrance with the goal of leaving before the paramedics arrive. He can let a classmate know that he's leaving, bullshitting something about the teachers telling him he can go. As he begins his ascent to the top of the freakishly long staircase, he feels a hand on his shoulder.

He goes completely still, whipping his head around. To his surprise, he is greeted by someone who he really doesn't want to see.

"Where are ya' going? You don't look too good, kid." His usual obnoxious voice is toned down, which Dazai can appreciate.

Well, his head is kind of spinning. The hand is off his shoulder now.

"Oh. Present Mic, hi. What are you doing here?" He laughs, "I'm thinking of heading back to my house because you see, Vlad King cleared me to go. He checked me over and excused me so I could change my clothes." Dazai bluffs.

Yamada stares at him, squinting. Dazai hates being analysed like this. Mori likes to pick his thoughts apart like he is an experiment. All for finding out what will get the largest rise out of Dazai.

"Can I touch you? I want to check if there's anything that needs immediate attention, like head injuries." He asks after a few seconds.

"Um yeah, sure. If you want."

It's just a bit. It's not like Dazai is seriously injured, and Yamada wouldn't check under his clothes. He wouldn't. Heroes are often corrupt, but he has some semblance of trust in the teachers of UA. Nezu isn't an idiot, and even though he's a bastard, he's not evil.

Yamada guides Dazai to a place nearby and motions for him to sit down. The older man sits behind Dazai and warns him he's about to touch his head behind him. He offers Dazai a towel to wrap around himself, which Dazai accepts eagerly. Yamada's fingers weave between strands of his hair, sorting them to search for bumps on his head. Dazai can't help but relax a bit at the repeated actions. He loves his hair being touched. It's a secret he's never told anyone because he fears they will laugh. For what reason he himself is unsure, he just knows.

He hasn't been touched in a long time. Not like this. Only rough hands that teach him lessons, or smaller hands that grab his shirt and pull and push him. Not gentle hands.

"I don't feel any bumps or lacerations around your scalp. Did you hit your head while fighting? Or any other injuries that need to be treated? I trust you can determine what you need help with" Yamada quizzes, slowing down the hands in his hair.

"No, I believe not. I was fortunate in staying uninjured. Will Aizawa-sensei be ok?"

Yamada hums to himself.

"I'm not sure listener, he took a rather hard hit. It's all thanks to you that his injuries aren't worse. By the looks of it, he'll come out will no permanent injuries, but I'm not too sure about the other injuries. It'll depend on factors like if the breaks in his bones were clean. One last thing, I just need to ask you a few quick questions to verify you don't have a concussion."

Yamada questions Dazai about trivial things, like his name and his age. Dazai answers them with ease.

"That's probably all I need you to do. Thank you for cooperating Dazai. I understand you want to go home. Do you need any spare clothes? I can arrange it, your clothing right now seems awfully cold."

"No, I'm fine to go home now." He replies.

The two of them continue to walk up the stairs to the beginning of the USJ, where the paramedics have finally arrived. He sees Aizawa carted off into an ambulance and many villains in handcuffs. It fills him with satisfaction that those pesky stupid criminals will be put behind bars soon.

People may believe that since he's considered a 'villain' that he would support any criminal, but that is simply not true. Dazai believes himself to be a criminal for the sole reason that he is told to. He will do it because if it helps him find a reason to go on in life, it'll be worth it.

The only people worth entertaining are truly good people and clever people. Chuuya is the only person he finds himself unable to categorise into either, but he still has this connection with the boy like he's never had before. If he lost Chuuya, his life might crash into itself like a black hole.

He groans at the woman who stops his journey to get home once again until he finds out that Mori has been called to pick him up. All the student's legal guardians have been called. He waits for Mori with equal parts dread and relief. He hates Mori, truly, but there is a strange comfort about that truly horrible man. Mori knows everything. Everything he knows about himself, Mori finds out. It is as if he digs a scalpel into his brain and dissects everything.

They get into a car. Dazai does not know where Mori got this car from, as he's never seen it in his life. He doesn't care either way. He sits in the back shivering while his boss sends him a sly smile.

"What's wrong Dazai-kun? Are you cold? Oh, what a poor little boy you are." He teases, with no response from the latter,

He doesn't speak, not until he gets to his residence, past Chuuya, and changed into clothes that aren't sopping wet. And of course, when he's changed into bandages. He can't seem to be himself without them, as if they are his source of life.

It feels wrong, everything feels wrong. It's contaminated. He needs to scrub this place until the walls peel off and he's left with the wooden structures. Mori is in his apartment, and it feels like the man has breached his very soul. He doesn't understand. His homes have never been important, but it's different. He cannot do a single thing, and for this, he weeps in his mind. He would not dare to weep in front of people, especially not in front of a man who knows everything about him.

Mori speaks, and Dazai wishes he had spent more time with his stupid partner.